Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Transatlantic Perspectives on Capital Punishment
- PART I WHAT IS A PENALTY OF DEATH: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN CONTEXT
- Part II ON THE MEANING OF DEATH AND PAIN IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES: VIEWING, WITNESSING, UNDERSTANDING
- Part III ABOLITIONIST DISCOURSES, ABOLITIONIST STRATEGIES, ABOLITIONIST DILEMMAS: TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVES
- 7 Civilized Rebels
- 8 The Death of Dignity
- 9 Sovereignty and the Unnecessary Penalty of Death
- 10 European Policy on the Death Penalty
- 11 The Long Shadow of the Death Penalty
- Index
10 - European Policy on the Death Penalty
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Transatlantic Perspectives on Capital Punishment
- PART I WHAT IS A PENALTY OF DEATH: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN CONTEXT
- Part II ON THE MEANING OF DEATH AND PAIN IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES: VIEWING, WITNESSING, UNDERSTANDING
- Part III ABOLITIONIST DISCOURSES, ABOLITIONIST STRATEGIES, ABOLITIONIST DILEMMAS: TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVES
- 7 Civilized Rebels
- 8 The Death of Dignity
- 9 Sovereignty and the Unnecessary Penalty of Death
- 10 European Policy on the Death Penalty
- 11 The Long Shadow of the Death Penalty
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
As Europe moves in the direction of absolute abolitionism, it is easy to miss the fact that these developments are fraught with tensions. The European policy on the abolition of the death penalty has come to be presented, above all, as a human rights issue. The drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights, key judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and initiatives of the Council of Europe contribute to this policy. In 1989, this European policy was reinvigorated with the prospect of European enlargement and new members to the Council of Europe. Comprising key mechanisms to facilitate implementation, the policy reflects a uniform approach to the death penalty, one that is particularly European. ‘New’ European states, although pleased to be back in the fold of Europe, have expressed problems with this policy, and some proactively support a pro-death penalty stance that is largely ignored by the Council of Europe and European Union (EU) member states.
This chapter critically examines these European transformations. It is organized in the following way. The chapter first sets out European policy on the abolition of the death penalty, providing a general survey of its mechanisms and procedures. Western European states have traditionally been afforded a margin of appreciation on certain human rights issues. This also applied to the imposition of the capital sentence. The position on the death penalty has reflected a certain unity on the matter.
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- Is the Death Penalty Dying?European and American Perspectives, pp. 268 - 291Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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