Capital Punishment. Between History and Controversy

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 the 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 the 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.