It has often been suggested that the reintroduction of capital punishment would deter the ever increasing rate of serious crime. What is your view? Do you think that capital punishment should be reinstated?

Over recent years, the rate of

crime

has dramatically increased in many countries around the world. It has been suggested that the reintroduction of the

death

penalty

would be an effective deterrent against the growth of serious

crime

, but it can be argued that capital

punishment

is unacceptable in our society for several reasons. In the following essay I will examine

this

issue and

then

give my own opinion.

Firstly

, capital

punishment

does not seem to reduce

crime

rates. The most recent survey of the relation between the

death

penalty

and homicide rates was conducted for the UN and concluded that there is no scientific evidence that capital

punishment

deters people from committing

crime

. In fact,

death

penalty

states continue to have higher

crime

rates than states that have abolished it.

Secondly

, the

death

penalty

is an inhuman and degrading

punishment

that violates human rights,

in particular

the right to life. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the inalienable right to life and should not be killed by another person nor by government.

However

, capital

punishment

is still practised in many countries,

such

as the United States or China, where the

death

penalty

is regarded as a highly effective measure that provides a sense of

justice

for victims. It is certainly true that victims and their families have the right to

justice

, but executing somebody because they have committed murder is revenge, not

justice

.

Finally

, capital

punishment

entails the risk of executing innocent people.

Although

criminal

justice

systems are supposed to be perfect, they have serious flaws and prosecutors as well as jurors can all make mistakes. A recent study has found that in the USA over 150 people had been released from

death

row because they were innocent of the

crime

for which they were convicted.

This

is a clear evidence that

such

mistakes are not only possible in the criminal

justice

system, but they are

also

reversible when

death

penalty

has not been practiced.

On the contrary

, had they been executed there would have been nothing to do and the state would have been guilty of killing innocent people. In conclusion,