Free Law Dissertations - The Legal Effects And Political Effects Of Re-introducing Capital
The legal effects and political effects of re-introducing capital punishment into the British Criminal Justice System.
Introduction
The death penalty for murder was abolished following great demand in the United Kingdom with the advent of Mr Sydney Silverman‘s, MP, Private Member’s Bill on 25 October, 1965 and the last executions took place on 13 August 1964. Remaining active death penalty incursions did however continue to exist for crimes of treason and piracy, as well as a number of offences under military law although no executions actually took place following the reforms of 1965. The civilian residual death penalties were finally removed 33 years later when, on 20 May 1998, parliament voted in favour of the incorporation of Protocol No 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This then led to the amendment of the Criminal Justice Act for the removal of the death penalty for the crimes of piracy and treason and, in 2001, the Armed Forces Act was amended to fall in line with the United Kingdom’s domestic incorporation of the European Human Rights provisions that are embodied in s 21(5) of the Human Rights Act 1998.
The concept of reintroducing the death penalty in the UK of course carries multifaceted legal and political effects that make this topic a very interesting area of research. In legal terms, this is particularly true given that, as will be shown below, European and International Law policies are vehemently against Capital Punishment despite US persistence to retain such a sentence and the ways in which such a contradiction can exist presents a key weakness of international law. This piece will therefore present a hypothesis of effects following reintroduction of capital punishment in the less domineering jurisdiction of the UK.
This will require ascertainment of the political jurisprudence of the European Union concept on the subject of capital punishment, since, as an EU member State, European ideology is central to the UK’s modern role in the global climate of post-empire domination. This is also true for the relationship between the UK and the United Nations. Part One The legal effects of reintroducing capital punishment to the British Criminal Justice System
1.The effect on Protocols 6 and 13
To illustrate the exactness of EU policy on the death sentence, Article 1 of Protocol 6, concerning the abolition of the death penalty, states categorically that:
The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed.
In addition to this clear communication of the Council of Europe’s stance, Article 4 states that there shall be no reservation of protocol 6 under the auspice of Article 57 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The equivalent applies for Protocol 13, only without reservation for allowing the punishment in times of war.
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