Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of criminals convicted of capital crimes by the state. It has been used throughout history as punishment for offenses such as murder, treason, kidnapping, and witchcraft. While many nations have abolished it, some like the U.S. and Bangladesh still practice it for certain crimes. Proponents argue it deters crime and brings closure for victims, while opponents argue it violates human rights, is prone to error, and lacks deterrence based on evidence. Morally, there are debates around whether governments deserve to kill those they imprison given issues with racial bias and unequal treatment.

1. Capital Punishment

2. Capital Punishment
 Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal
process whereby a person is put to death by the state as
a punishment for a crime. Capital punishment is a
relevant issue for every human society and it constitutes
a “dilemma of hidden human divinity versus hubristic
death penalty.” The concept of a right to life is central to
debates on the issues of capital punishment.
•

3. Definition
 Capital punishment also called the death penalty, is the
execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for
crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences.
 According to Encyclopedia Britannica “capital punishment, also
called death penalty, execution of an offender sentenced to death
after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital
punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions
carried out without due process of law.
•

4. Historical Background
 Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment
and since ancient times it has been used for a wide variety of
offences. The bible prescribes death for murder and many other
crimes, including kidnapping and witchcraft. By 1500 in England,
only major felonies carried the death penalty- treason, murder,
larceny, burglary, rape, and arson. Venezuela (1853) and Portugal
(1867) were the first nations to abolish the death penalty altogether.
In the United States Michigan was first state to abolish it for murder
in 1847. Today, it is virtually abolished in all of Western Europe and
most of Latin America. Britain effectively abolished capital
punishment in 1965.

5. In Roman Law Society
Continue ….
 In the Roman law the principle is continuously applied from the
fifth century that the death penalty (whether by decapitation,
burning, or throwing down a precipice) is due to all grave crimes
(including murder, arson, perjury, treason, etc.); but in practise
this was mitigated. In the last two centuries of the republic capital
punishment was seldom applied, to members of the upper
classes at least.

6. In Roman Law Society
Continue …
But it was never abolished, and when the
reorganization of the Roman system took
place under imperial legislation it was
again more frequently employed, even
against Roman citizens. Thus at the
beginning of the Christian era it was an
accepted institution throughout the Roman
Empire.

7. Types of Capital Punishment
• Hanging
• Decapitation
• Burning at the Stak
• Drowning
• Crucifixion
• Quartering by Horses
• Wheel
• Stoning.
• Strangulation
• Impalement

8. Capital Punishment in Bangladesh
•
 In Bangladesh we exercise death penalty as capital punishment to
execute the murderer or a convict of vital crime from ancient time.
From which time we exercise it didn’t know. Though the sentences of
death penalty pass frequently from the courts but the executions of
those sentences are not frequent as well. Every year very few convicts
are executed in Bangladesh. Sometimes the Government of the
country releases the convict by showing political issue.
 In Bangladesh penal provisions have been made in Penal Code*
1860.These following eight types of offences is punishable with death
penalty.

9. Capital Punishment in Bangladesh
• 1.Murder : Sec-302
• 2.Murder by life convict: Sec-303
• 3.Abatement of suicide of child or insane person:
Sec-305
• 4.Attempt to murder by life convict causing hurt:
Sec-307
• 5.Dacoit with murder: Sec-396
• 6.Giving or fabricating false evidence with to procure
conviction of capital offence: Sec-194
• 7.Waging or attempting to wage war against
Bangladesh: Sec-121
• 8.Abatement of mutiny: Sec-131

11. Arguments in favour of Capital
Punishments Continue….
• The death penalty gives conclusion
Life in prison just means the criminal is still
around to haunt the victim. A death sentence
brings finality to a horrible chapter in the lives of
these family members.
• It creates another form of crime deterrent
Crime would run rampant as never before if
there wasn’t some way to deter people from
committing the acts. Prison time is an effective
deterrent, but with some people, more is
needed.

12. Arguments in favour of Capital
Punishments Continue…
• Our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals
than it does victims
It’s time we put the emphasis of our criminal justice system
back on protecting the victim rather than the accused.
Remember, a person who’s on death row has almost always
committed crimes before this. A long line of victims have been
waiting for justice. We need justice for current and past
victims.
• Modern crime scene science can now effectively
eliminate almost all uncertainty
One of the biggest arguments against the death penalty is the
possibility of error. Sure, we can never completely eliminate
all uncertainty, but nowadays, it’s about as close as you can
get. DNA testing is over 99 percent effective.

13. Arguments in favour of Capital
Punishments Continue….
• Prisoner parole or escapes can give criminals another chance
to kill
Perhaps the biggest reason to keep the death penalty is to prevent
the crime from happening again. The parole system nowadays is a
joke. Even if a criminal is sentenced to life without possibility of
parole, he still has a chance to kill while in prison, or even worse,
escape and go on a crime/murder spree.
• It contributes to the problem of overpopulation in the prison
system.
• It gives prosecutors another bargaining chip in the plea bargain
process, which is essential in cutting costs in an overcrowded
court system.

14. Arguments against Capital
Punishments Continue….
• Denial of basic right – According to Humans Right Association capital
punishment overrules our most basic human right – the right to life. Human
life has fundamental value. The blessedness of human life is denied by the
death penalty
• The possibility of error –The most common and most cogent argument
against capital punishment is that sooner or later, innocent people will get
killed, because of mistakes or flaws in the justice system
• Unfair Judgment – In many death penalty cases the defendants remain
poorly represented or not represented at all because of their poverty, which
cause greater injustice. It also notice a kind of racial discrimination this
happens due to varied reasons. Because the poor can offer very low
compensation the defense lawyers are often incompetent, resulting in losing
the case. Due to prejudice and bias, poor people, and people from minority
sections become soft target for such capital punishments

15. Arguments against Capital
Punishments Continue….
• Lack of Deterrence – The purpose of any punishment should be
deterrence from repeating the same act. But, according to the
statistics available, the death penalty has not been effective in
controlling the homicide rate. The studies have revealed the
shocking truth that executions actually increase the murder rate.
That means the capital punishment does not deter violent crime.
According to a New York Times study, the last 20 years witnessed
48% homicide rate in states with the implementation of capital
punishment compared to 23% in the states without capital
punishment.
• Justifying circumstances – Sometimes, persons suffering from
emotional trauma, abandonment, violence, neglect or destructive
social environment commit such heinous crimes. These mitigating
situations can have devastating effect on their humanity. So, it is
unfair to hold them fully responsible for their crimes. It is our
communal responsibility to show some sympathy to some extent. It’s
generally accepted that people should not be punished for their
actions unless they have a guilty mind – which requires them to
know what they are doing and that it’s wrong.

16. Arguments against Capital
Punishments Continue….
• Effects on society – Capital Punishment is itself a premeditated
murder. This is unacceptable even it is inflicted by state authority as
it lowers the value of life. In fact, such act can only brutalize the
society. “Revenge is essential” can become a society attitude. By
witnessing such acts, our own mental makeup starts believing that
violence is necessary to curb the wrongdoings. By giving capital
punishment, the family of the victim is permanently traumatized and
victimized. They are often punished by their loved ones without their
fault, even though they are innocent.
• .

17. Morality on Capital Punishment
 Morality: "Ultimately, the moral question surrounding capital
punishment in America has less to do with whether those
convicted of violent crime deserve to die than with whether
state and federal governments deserve to kill those whom it
has imprisoned. The legacy of racial apartheid, racial bias,
and ethnic discrimination is unavoidably evident in the
administration of capital punishment in America. Death
sentences are imposed in a criminal justice system that treats
you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and
innocent. This is an immoral condition that makes rejecting
the death penalty on moral grounds not only defensible but
necessary for those who refuse to accept unequal or unjust
administration of punishment.“
 Bryan Stevenson, JD
Professor of Law at New York University School of Law
"Close to Death: Reflections on Race and Capital Punishment in America," from Debating the Death Penalty: Should
America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case
2004

20. Islam and Capital Punishment
Scholars of Islam hold it to be permissible but
the victim or the family of the victim has the right
to pardon. In Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), to
forbid what is not forbidden is forbidden.
Consequently, it is impossible to make a case for
abolition of the death penalty, which is explicitly
endorsed.
Sharia Law or Islamic law may require capital
punishment; there is great variation within
Islamic nations as to actual capital punishment

21. Islam and Capital Punishment
"Whoever slays a soul, unless it be for
manslaughter or for anarchy in the land, it is as
though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive,
it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly
Our apostles came to them with clear arguments,
but even after that many of them certainly act
extravagantly in the land.” Chapter 5, Verse 120

"...do not kill the soul which Allah has
forbidden except for the requirements of justice;
this He has enjoined you with that you may
understand." Chapter 6, Verse 165

22. Islam and Capital Punishment
According to the Islamic injunctions, death penalty
can be administered in two cases only.
 Firstly, if a person is physically harmed or injured by
another, Islam directs the state to provide justice to
the individual (or his relatives) by letting him/them
harm or injure the guilty to the same extent, as he
himself was guilty of harming his victim, in the first
place. This concept of punishing the guilty is known
as 'Qisaas', which means 'to follow suit' or to deal
with the criminal in a manner similar to the act
originally committed. In other words, the criminal is
to be killed or injured in the same way as he himself
killed or injured his victim...

23. Islam and Capital Punishment
Secondly, the death penalty may be
administered if the criminal is guilty of 'Hiraabah'
or 'Fasaad fil Ardh'. 'Hiraabah' and/or 'Fasaad fil
Ardh' include crimes committed against the
community, rather than an individual or crimes
that are of the nature of religious persecution or
crimes committed with the objective of spreading
a wave of terror through the community or
crimes committed against the state..."
•

24. Conclusion
• An issue that has continually created tension in today’s
society is whether the death penalty serves as a justified
and valid form of punishment. Whenever the word
“death penalty” comes up, extremists from both sides
start yelling out their arguments. One side says
deterrence, the other side says there’s a potential of
executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution,
and punishment; the other side says execution is
murder.

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