Capital Punishment

Capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society and should prove much cheaper and safer for the rest of us than long term. It is self evident that dead criminals cannot commit any further crimes, either within prison or after escaping or being released from it. Another argument for the death penalty is the cost factor. The state may very well better spend our resources on the old, the young and the sick rather than the long-term imprisonment of murderers, rapists, etc. Execution is a very real punishment rather than some form of treatment. The criminal is made to suffer in proportion to the offence. Although whether there is a place in a modern society, is a matter of personal opinion. Many as an acceptable reason for the death penalty see Justice.

The most important one is the virtual certainty that genuinely innocent people will be executed and that there is no possible way of compensating them for this miscarriage of justice. There is also another significant danger here. The person convicted of the murder may have actually killed the victim and may even admit having done so but does not agree that the killing was murder. Often the only people who know what really happened are the accused and the deceased. It then comes down to the skill of the prosecution and defence lawyers as to whether there will be a conviction for murder or for manslaughter. It is thus highly probable that people are convicted of murder when they should really have only been convicted of manslaughter.

Australia has a long-standing principled opposition to capital punishment. The death penalty has been abolished in Australia. Australia works with the UN Human Rights Commission that calls for all nations to abolish the death penalty. However, over the last few years' Australian politicians, both government and opposition have weakened this stance. Australia's position now seems to be that Australians should not be executed but other people can be. Australia has traditionally taken a strong principled stand against capital punishment. Prime Minister Howard is on the record as an opponent of the death penalty. Since the Bali bombing in October 2002, an event that deeply moved the Prime Minister, Mr Howard's position on the death penalty has shifted. It would appear that, with respect to terrorism at least, he is willing to remain silent while another nation executes a fellow human being.