Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 56 Article 1 Issue 4 December Winter 1965 The tS atus of Capital Punishment: A World Perspective Clarence H. Patrick Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Clarence H. Patrick, The tS atus of Capital Punishment: A World Perspective, 56 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 397 (1965) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. The Journal of CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY, AND POLICE SCIENCE Copyright @ by Northwestern University School of Law VOL 56 DECEMBER 1965 NO. 4 THE STATUS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: A WORLD PERSPECTIVE CLARENCE H. PATRICK The author has been professor of sociology at Wake Forest College since 1947. Earlier he was pro- fessor of sociology at Shorter College and Meredith College. He received the A.B. degree from Wake Forest College and the Ph.D. degree from Duke University. He is the author of Alcohol, Culture,and Society, and of articles in the fields of criminology and race relations. From 1953-1956 he was chairman of the North Carolina Board of Paroles. He has been a member of the North Carolina Pro- bation Commission since 1957 and is presently Chairman of the Commission. The death penalty is one of the most ancient of tested which would explain some of those differ- all methods of punishments. It has been employed ences.2 The objective has not been that of estab- at some time by virtually all countries, excepting lishing a case for or against capital punishment. a few of those established in relatively recent years. A study of this nature is confronted with several Attacks and counterattacks have been made over limitations. Some of the inevitable problems are the propriety of this sanction or form of punish- these: difficulties of language and terminological ment for the past two centuries, especially since difficulties, the lack of availability or even of the publication of Cesare Beccaria's essay On existence of records in certain countries on some Crime and Punishments in 1764. Since that date of the pertinent data, the unwillingness of govern- the continuing dialogue on the death penalty has mental officials to release some requested infor- resulted in a considerable amount of literature on mation, and the difficulty of comparing statistical the subject, the bulk of which is of a pro or con and various other data on an international level. nature. At the same time the subject has elicited Data were obtained on 128 of 146 countries the attention and study of numerous behavioral (largely the most populous ones) selected for this scientists and of specialists in the fields of law, study. A one-page questionnaire was used to col- criminology and penology. Recently it has been lect the desired information. The questionnaires examined and evaluated by several national and were first mailed to the ambassadors to the United international commissions and councils, including States of 100 countries and to the United States the United Kingdom's Commission on Capital ambassadors to those same countries. From the Punishment, the Joint Committee of the Senate responses received to those questionnaires data and House of Commons of Canada, and the Eco- were obtained on 94 of the 100 countries as fol- nomic and Social Council of the United Nations.' lows: 55 through dual responses and 39 through The writer's purpose in this investigation has single responses (13 through ambassadors to the been to gather certain data on the current status United States and 26 through the United States of the death penalty in the various countries of the ambassadors).' Questionnaires were then mailed world, to observe the differences in its use from to the ministries of justice of the six countries from country to country, and to determine whether pos- which no reply had been received to the first 100 sibly some hypotheses might be advanced and requests and to 46 additional countries. To those I See Royal Commission on Capital Punishment 52 questionnaires 27 responses with some or all of 1949-1953 Report (London: Her Majesty's Stationery the requested data were received. The writer then Office, 1953); Reports of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons on Capital Punishment, 2The term "country" in this study refers to terri- CorporalPunishment, Lotteries (Ottawa: Queens Printer tories, protectorates, etc., as well as to independent and Controller of Stationery, 1956); and Capital jurisdictions. Punishment (New York: Department of Economic and 3The variations in the data in the dual responses on Social Affairs, United Nations, 1962). particular countries were negligible. 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Z ) u) o) o444) C-) C'uu0q0Z 4)) 0000 00 1- 10 - l 00 0 0 r- 0 0 0 % z 0 z0 to) a T 0 0~. s 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wz 41 zo U n U)E z) 0 zn 0 zq0 z0 No Go 4) 0' 0 0 o o& 2 4d0 -l '. 0 oo 10ocE- '4) 4 oo 0 0 oo U) ocC') 00 cl) P4 0 0 z 0 4o 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Z Z Z z z ~ZZz2 ZZ ~ 4) bo0 *~0 00 4) 09) 4 Z 4 ,0 al x ; - d 0 0 4 WO0 WO w ,, PA TRICK [Vol. 56 2: 0 0 0 00 0 00 z >qZ ZZ z zz zzz zz, zzzz 00 00000 ~ 0 am oto t ot tot~ to0 to0- b0 '0O cttoo =1 bo o o t t - - t to t, ~ ~ ~ ~0 0 o o 0 00 1c 0 ca I UR0i 0 0 000 00 ~ 'oo II In 00 U- 0 00 r co o 00 o0 o - 0 0 00') d 0,0 >q > - 000t, oq'> zc h H z >~ g .9:o cdU CIn 0 =10 cd t o 'I C-.t: o CI d z~~~~~~~C z o - ,P P . p P4 0cn 1965] THE STATUS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT z0 ~zEn0 zz00 z0 z0 Z,0zo zo Z'Z00 z zo0 0 0.2.2 ~ 0 0 0 -- puu 00 00 00 0 00 c, 00 0 00 00 00 0X *00 0 0 0 = 0 r. cd - 00 0 00 00 " o 00 0 0 0 - - -d a- = Al -- s C, r. es '21 00.i 04 0 q 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 *l .