Capital Punishment. Between History and Controversy

• Author: Ana Catalina Neacsu, Iana Rotaru
• Position: 4th Year Student Faculty of Law, Danubius University of Danubius, Danubius University of Galati, Romania/4th Year Student Faculty of Law, Danubius University of Danubius, Danubius University of Galati, Romania
• Pages: 503-513

ISSN: 2067 – 9211 Miscellaneous

503

Capital Punishment.

Between History and Controversy

Ana Catalina Neacsu1, Iana Rotaru2

Abstract: Over the years, previous research has attempted to identify a deterrent effect of the death penalty.

We argue that the quality of life in prison can have a greater impact on criminal behavior than on the death

penalty. Using data from the statewide investigation method covering t he period 1950–1990, we

demonstrate that the death rate among prisoners is negatively correlated with crime rates, consistent with

deterrence. This finding is proving to be quite robust. In contrast, there is little systematic evidence that the

execution rate influences crime rates during this period (Michael, 2003, pp. 318–343). In this paper we will

analyze the topicality of the issue which is determined by the large number of serious crimes, and the right

to punish has always been recognized, because it is the main tool to protect individual and collective

interests. The importance of determining the sentence consists in correctly determining the duration of the

sentence and its nature so that this duration corresponds adequately to the acts committed by the offender

and preventing the guilty party from causing new damage to society. From the point of view of the nature,

the finality and the types of punishment, they have known a permanent evolution. Thus, the death penalty

by its nature has different features, which fundamentally distinguish it from all other types of punishment

(Kaufman, 2020, pp. 59-62). The fight against this punishment was regulated in Protocol no. 6 on the

abolition of t he death penalty, concluded in Strasbourg on 28 April 1983 and in Protocol no. 13 of the

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the Abolition of the Death

Penalty in All Circumstances.

Keywords: capital; punishment; human rights; European Union; Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Council of Europe

Introduction

In the practice of EU member states, this punishment was regulated in the Council of Europe by signing

this Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

signed in Rome on 4 November 1950 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention). Several member

states of the Council of Europe express a general trend towards the abolition of the death penalty,

have agreed on the following:

Art. 1. The death penalty is abolished. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offense on account of

any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense, under national or international law, at the

time when it was committed.

Art. 2. A state may provide in its legislation the death penalty for acts committed in time of war or

imminent danger of war; such punishment shall be applied only in the cases provided for by this

legislation and in accordance with its provisions.

1 4th Year Student Faculty of Law, Danubius University of Danubius, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3

Galati Blvd., 800654 Galati, Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, Fax: +40372361290, E-mail: aneacsu1997@yahoo.com

2 4th Year Student Faculty of Law, Danubius University of Danubius, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Addr ess: 3

Galati Blvd., 800654 Galati, Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, Fax: +40372361290, Corresponding author:

iana.rotaru9@gmail.com.