Hanging Vote

Debating the death penalty. This report about a vote in the British House of Commons on restoring or reintroducing the death penalty (in Britain traditionally by hanging) comes from the BBC.

The last judicial hanging in Britain was back in 1964. But every two years or so, supporters of capital punishment make an attempt to persuade the Commons to bring back the death penalty. The latest, on Monday, saw the most emphatic rejection yet of the arguments for bringing back the hangman. The Commons voted by a ratio of two to one that courts should not be able to sentence convicted murderers to death. Such a decisive vote will settle the matter for some years.

But inevitably, sooner or later the hanging lobby will make another attempt to amend the law.

For while MPs have turned their backs on the biblical doctrine of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, among the general public there’s strong support for the death penalty. This was one of the main arguments used by supporters of the death penalty during the Commons debate. Not only would the return of the rope reflect public opinion, it was argued, it would also act as a deterrent to criminals and cut down on the number of murders.

The anti-hanging lobby argues on practical grounds – that there’s no evidence that the death penalty functions as a deterrent – and on moral grounds, that the state has no right to deprive its citizens of the right to live.

The arguments have been well rehearsed over the years. But the most compelling argument, and the one which most contributed to the enormous majority against hanging in Monday’s vote, is the possibility of a miscarriage of justice. The “Guildford Four” – jailed in the mid-seventies for IRA bombings it later transpired they did not commit – might well have been hanged if the death penalty had still been in force.

Quiz

Now a quiz on some points of law – English style. The answers may well be different in your country. Simply answer the questions “yes”or “no”. The answers according to English law are printed at the end of the quiz.

1. Is it a crime to try and kill yourself?

2. Is it illegal to help somebody to commit suicide?

3. Can you be executed for murdering a policeman?

4. If, after a murder, all the victim’s relatives plead: “Please don’t prosecute!” can
charges against the suspected culprit be dropped?

5. If two armed thieves break into a house, guns in hand, and one of them shoots
and kills the house-owner, is his accomplice guilty of murder?

6. If I surprise an intruder in my lounge at night stealing my millions, have I a legal right to assault him with a weapon?

7. If I set a trap – a fifty-kilo weight just above the front door – for any burglars who
might try and enter the house, am I breaking the law?

8. After a divorce or legal separation, can a wife be required to pay alimony to her ex-husband?

9. If I promise to marry my girlfriend and then change my mind shortly before the
wedding, can she take me to court?

10. If you said to your teacher in the middle of one of his lessons: “You don’t know the first thing about teaching!” could he bring a civil action against you?

11. Would I be in danger of committing an offence if I put an advertisement for my
school in the paper saying: “Male white teacher required”?

12. If, as a defendant (or the accused), I am not satisfied with the way my
barrister has handled my defence, can I sue him?

13. If you were in my house – uninvited – and the ceiling, which had had a large crack in it for some time, caved in and broke your leg, would it be a good idea to
consult your solicitor?

14. Can a person suspected of and charged with rape be allowed bail?