Essay about The Legal System Death Penalty

Submitted By hausofbliss
Words: 1411
Pages: 6

The legal system

The Death Penalty –
The death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment, is when a government or authority executes someone because they have committed a merciless offence. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" directly referring to execution by beheading. Punishment by the death penalty was used very frequently in the 1900’s until the abortion of it in all circumstances in 1998.
The Law in Australia (Death Penalty) -
The Death Penalty had been part of the legal system of Australia since British settlement and during the 19th century, crimes punishable through a death sentence included burglary, sheep stealing, forgery, sexual assaults, murder and manslaughter and there is one reported case of someone being executed for "being illegally unrestrained" and during the 19th century, these crimes saw about 80 people lynched each year throughout Australia.
The death penalty was abolished in Queensland in 1922, Tasmania in 1968, the Commonwealth in 1973, Northern Territory in 1973, Victoria in 1975, South Australia in 1976, ACT in 1983, Western Australia in 1984, and New South Wales in 1985. It was finally abolished through federal law in 1973 with the 'Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 of the Commonwealth abolished the death penalty for federal offences.
No executions were carried out under the bridge of the federal government and the passage of the Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 saw the death penalty replaced with life imprisonment as their maximum punishment.
Capital punishment was abolished for murder in 1955, and for all crimes in 1984. New South Wales was the last Australian State to formally abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

Legal Position Taken in Other Countries –
About one third of the countries in the world have laws that allow the death penalty. The United States, The People's Republic of China, Japan and Iran are all examples of countries that have a death penalty. Canada, Australia, Mexico and all members of Council of Europe are examples of countries that have abolished the death penalty.
Over half the countries in the world have gotten rid of the death penalty. 75 countries have gotten rid of the death punishment for all crimes and another 20 can be considered objector in practice. The concluding maintain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or more.
Most of the countries that have a death penalty use it on murderers, and for other serious crimes such as rape or terrorism. Other countries especially ones with Controlling or regulatory governments, however, also use it for smaller crimes like theft, drugs, or for saying bad things about the government.
The countries executing the most people in 2012 include China undoubtedly at the top of the list, executing 4000+ people, second is Iran (at least 314+), Iraq (at least 129+), Saudi Arabia (79+), U.S. (43), Yemen (28+), Sudan (19+), and finally Afghanistan (14).

Controversy –
Capital punishment is a polarizing topic with two basic viewpoints. The first says that some crimes are so monstrous that the perpetrator deserves to die. The second view is that police and juries make errors and capital punishment cannot be reversed. Once the convict has been put to death, he can’t be revived. It seems that every month people who were convicted of murder are released after new evidence proves their innocence. New technologies, like DNA testing, can be used to clear or convict a defendant.
On the other hand, people who favour the death penalty say that it is absolute. If you kill a murderer, that killer will not murder any other people.
Some people think the death penalty is a good thing, and others think it is an immoral thing. Many people on both sides of the argument have very strong feelings. One side says the death penalty is good because it scares people away from doing things that could get them killed, the other side says there's a