How to Abolish the Death Penalty Worldwide? COUNTRY-SPECIFIC ANALYSIS CONCERNING THE INFLUENTIAL FACTORS Jana Riemslagh Student number: 01304303 Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Yves Haeck, Andy Van Pachtenbeke A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws Academic year: 2017 - 2018 I Table of content Global introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Preface ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 A note on methodology .......................................................................................................................... 2 PART 1 CANADA ...................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Legislative process ............................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 In general ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Canadian criminal law ............................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Relevant Canadian history ............................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Bickerdike and the Criminal Reform Association ......................................................................................... 6 3.2 Conservatives from 1957 till 1962 ...................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Liberals from 1963 till 1968 .................................................................................................................................. 7 3.4 Turning point in 1976 ............................................................................................................................................... 8 3.5 Fear of reinstatement in 1987 ............................................................................................................................... 9 3.6 The end of the Death Penalty ............................................................................................................................... 10 3.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 4. Players in the law-making field .................................................................................................. 11 4.1 Influence of Prime Ministers in Parliament ................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Interrelation between different attempts to abolish ................................................................................. 13 4.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 14 5. Influence of the international community and international organizations in Canada .................................................................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Evolution towards human rights advocate .................................................................................................... 14 5.2 Effect of international norms ............................................................................................................................... 17 5.3 Canada’s relation towards abolitionist countries ....................................................................................... 18 5.4 Canada’s relation towards non-abolitionist countries .............................................................................. 19 5.4.1 Kindler and Ng before the Canadian Supreme Court ........................................................................................... 19 5.4.2 Kindler and Ng before the UN Human Rights Committee .................................................................................. 21 II 5.4.3 The United States v. Burns before the Canadian Supreme Court ..................................................................... 21 5.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 22 6. Non-governmental organisations in Canada .......................................................................... 23 6.1 Amnesty International ............................................................................................................................................ 24 6.2 Other civil societies .................................................................................................................................................. 26 6.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 26 7. Influence of the public opinion ................................................................................................... 27 7.1 From 1965 till 1972 ................................................................................................................................................. 27 7.2 In 1976 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 28 7.3 After the abolition ..................................................................................................................................................... 29 7.4 Why was there so much opposition to abolish? .......................................................................................... 30 7.4.1 Increase in criminal homicide ........................................................................................................................................ 30 7.4.2 Increase in risk and hazard of police work ............................................................................................................... 31 7.4.3 Public opinion in favour of the death penalty ......................................................................................................... 31 7.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 32 8. Situation after the abolition ......................................................................................................... 33 8.1 Situation in Canada after 1976 ............................................................................................................................ 33 8.2 General hypothesis for reinstatement ............................................................................................................. 34 8.3 Is this hypothesis applicable to Canada? ........................................................................................................ 35 8.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 35 9. Overall Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 36 PART 2 BELGIUM .................................................................................................. 39 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 39 2. General process of adopting criminal legislation ................................................................. 39 3. General process of Constitutional reform ............................................................................... 41 4. Relevant events before Belgium’s independence ................................................................. 41 4.1 Introduction of a new Zeitgeist ............................................................................................................................ 41 4.2 First attempts (1791-1814) during the French Regime ........................................................................... 42 4.3 The Dutch period (1815-1830) ........................................................................................................................... 43 III 5. Belgian history concerning the death penalty ....................................................................... 44 5.1 First attempts in the Kingdom of Belgium (1830-1835) ......................................................................... 44 5.2 Drafting a new Criminal Code (1848-1867) .................................................................................................. 46 5.3 De facto