Death Penalty Gets in Contradiction with International Legal Standards

There are also concerns about the irrevocability of punishment, given the possibility of the fallacy of the criminal justice system. While many groups oppose any reintroduction of the death penalty, its reinstatement remains popular among the public. Those who advocate its re-introduction, refer to natural justice and its value as a deterrent.

However, this apparent public support is not reflected in the political establishment, and any movement for re-imposition of punishment is unlikely to survive a vote in the house of Commons. Indeed, despite three 'free' votes over the past 20 years, MPs rejected all calls for its restoration.

Moreover, the death penalty was clearly contrary to the current international legal obligations of the United Kingdom.

In November 2010, the UN General Assembly again called for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Noting the regional initiatives and ongoing national debate on the death penalty, the UN called on States to limit the use of the death penalty in order to reduce the number of crimes for which it can be applied, as well as 'to introduce a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty'. States that have abolished the death penalty are encouraged not to reintroduce it. The draft resolution was adopted by 107 votes to 38, with 36 abstentions.

In October 2010, the coalition government launched a new strategy for the 'global abolition of the death penalty'. The main goal is: a further increase in the number of countries that abolished the death penalty, or countries with a moratorium on the death penalty. Moreover, further restrictions on the death penalty use in countries that retained the death penalty and reduce the number of executions in order to follow the compliance with the minimum standards of the EU in the countries that retained the death penalty.

The government States that it intends to work towards these goals through three main channels: the UN and the EU and bilateral initiatives. Foreign Minister Lord Howell acknowledged that the death penalty still persists in 22 Commonwealth countries. He agreed that this was 'a matter of serious concern' and stated that the government would continue to work towards the abolition of the death penalty.

According to Amnesty international (2011), after a decade of progress in abolishing the death penalty, countries that continue to use the death penalty are becoming increasingly isolated. Over the past 10 years, 31 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. However, China continues to support the death penalty. In 2010, Amnesty international was unable to confirm full data on the use of the death penalty in China, although it had some information.

According to Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International, he discussed China to be the one which wants to take the leading world positions in economics, finance and development, however, it take the lead in death penalty, executing the amount of people which isn’t executed by any other country in the world. Amnesty international's investigation reveals that hundreds of documented death penalty cases are missing from the national online database of the court. Although initially this base was seen as a “decisive step towards openness'. This base is regularly announced as evidence that the country's judicial system has nothing to hide, but in fact, it is not. Database of China contains only a small fraction of the thousands of death sentences, which, according to the organization 'Amnesty international', are submitted annually in China, which reflects the fact that the Chinese government continues to maintain almost complete secrecy as regards the number of people sentenced to death and executed in the country. Information related to the death penalty in China is considered a “state secret”.

Amnesty International has discovered public news reports in which at least 931 people were executed between 2014 and 2016 (only part of the total number of executions), but only 85 of them are found in the state database. The database also does not list foreign nationals who have been sentenced to death for drug-related offences. Although the media reported at least 11 executions of foreign nationals. There are also numerous cases involving “terrorism” and drug-related crimes.

As a result, we can see that China is a world leader in executing people even death penalty gets in contradiction with international legal standards. (April 11, 2017).

In the case of the United Arab Emirates, the authorities have refrained from carrying out executions. According to the laws of the Emirate, the death penalty is provided for many crimes, and the only way of execution is execution. The current law theoretically permits the death penalty for the following crimes: treason, espionage, murder, successful suicide, arson resulting in death, acts of indecent conduct leading to death, import of nuclear material / waste into the state environment, perjury, adultery, apostasy, blasphemy resulting from erroneous execution, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, sodomy, homosexuality, drugs and entry into the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant, although death sentences are often commuted to life imprisonment. Foreign nationals and UAE nationals may also be executed for crimes.

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