Secret breathing techniques and life-changing exercises. Mindful breathing technique from Oriental medicine

The death penalty is an exceptional measure of punishment for especially grave crimes, applied only by a court verdict. Since this measure of punishment is in a certain contradiction with one of the fundamental human rights, the right to life.

Ancient times.

The death penalty is one of the oldest punishments known to mankind. Most scholars begin the history of the death penalty from the period when the state took power into its own hands in all spheres of activity, including in the sphere of execution of punishment. This judgment is erroneous, since the state authorities have already found the death penalty as a ready-made institution in the form of bloody revenge, or, more precisely, in the form of revenge murder. A.F. Kistyakovsky explained that “being different in the method of appointment and in volume, murder in the form of revenge and the death penalty in the form of punishment are essentially the same: both consist in the deprivation of life; both fall on the head of the guilty, or at least the one who is considered guilty; if the death penalty is based on the law established by the authorities, then murder in the form of revenge is consecrated by an invariably observed custom and is considered not only a right, but also an obligation.

Killing in the form of revenge among all peoples was a sacred duty, just as the definition of punishment is considered the duty of the state. Not to take revenge, according to the belief of primitive peoples, means to betray the family.

Primitive peoples take life not only of those who deliberately killed, wounded, insulted in some way, but of anyone who harmed them accidentally, carelessly or deliberately. In the primitive period or the period of revenge, the death penalty was applied on the largest scale. Perhaps the peoples did not yet know that in any case there could be a question of a person's innocence. After all, a person is innocent until proven guilty.

In Athens, two courts were established: one that judged random murders; this court pronounced a verdict that protected the accidental murderer from the vengeance of the relatives of the murdered. The other court provided protection from retaliation by the relatives of the murdered when the murder was committed out of necessity or for other legitimate reasons.

The main body of law among the ancient Romans is the law (((tables, according to which all crimes, intentional and unintentional, were subject to the death penalty. It depended only on the discretion of the offended person either to punish in revenge for these crimes, or to reconcile for a certain reward. If the random offender was not in able to pay the ransom, he became a slave with whom the injured party could do whatever she wanted.

In Russia, the death penalty as a measure of punishment was mentioned in a number of ancient monuments, for example, in the Brief Russian Pravda (((c.). In the annals, there are references to the execution of robbers at the direction of Vladimir Monomakh. There were cases of executions in 1071 and 1157 for "reproaching the faith" , for “causing rebellion and division among the people.” These executions must be regarded as a punishment in the legal sense, since they were committed on behalf of the state power for acts contrary to the prince.

Middle Ages

"Beat them all, the Lord will know his own"

Pope Innocent

The death penalty received its distribution in the Middle Ages, from 1198 (from the accession to the papal throne of Innocent). He developed a vigorous activity to eradicate all kinds of heresies. Since that time, the bloody era of the fires of the Inquisitions began. But the generally accepted date for the birth of the Inquisition is 1229, when the church hierarchy announced the creation of a tribunal - the highest body of the Inquisition, designed to detect, judge and punish heretics.

Since that time, the Inquisition has become part of the judiciary of the time. The Spanish Inquisition, led by Tommaso Torquemada, became famous for its cruelty.

"In Spain, numb with fear,

Ferdinand and Isabella reigned,

But ruled with an iron fist

Grand Inquisitor over the country

He was cruel as the lord of hell

Grand Inquisitor Torquemada"

G. Longoffelo.

It was at this time that such types of execution became widespread:

Guillotine (first used in Scotland, the execution is the same for everyone)

Quartering

Wheeling (same as crucifixion)

Drowning

Crucifixion (first used in the Roman Empire)

Burning and burying alive

Impaling (first used in Russia, Ivan the Terrible)

"The Iron Maiden" also at the same time was written one of the most terrible books of mankind "Hammer of the Witches", about the search for the inquiry, and the destruction of witches and heretics.

In the future, the most common types of death penalty were: guillotining, hanging, execution (typical for Russia until 1993). The most famous execution, by decapitation, is that of King Louis XVI on January 21, 1793.

ATTITUDE OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS TO THE DEATH PENALTY.

In the Bible, as in the legislation of other ancient peoples, the death penalty often serves as a punishment for a serious crime. There are indications of the need for the death penalty for such types of crimes as: non-observance of the Sabbath, blasphemy, murder, adultery (adultery), homosexuality, bestiality, rape, insulting or beating a father or mother, kidnapping. The Bible mentions three methods of the death penalty - stoning, burning and hanging.

In Judaism

The Talmud mentions four forms of the death penalty, which the court (arba mitot bet-din) sentences: stoning, burning, execution with a sword, and strangulation. There is reason to believe that the Talmudic discussions about the death penalty, its types and methods are predominantly theoretical, similar to the discussion of issues related to temple sacrifices at a time when the Temple did not exist for a long time. The analogy between the discussion of the various types of capital punishment and the discussion of sacrifices is directly cited in the Talmud itself.

The Sanhedrin, which sentences to death every seven years, is called bloodthirsty; Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says: “Even once every 70 years”; Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said: "If we sat in the Sanhedrin, death sentences would never be pronounced," and Rabban Shim'on ben Gamliel said: "If so, they would increase the number of murderers among Israel."

Mishnah, Makkot 1:10

The sentence was not carried out on the same day in order to increase the possibility of new, favorable evidence. On the way to the place of execution, the herald turned to possible witnesses on the streets. Before execution, the condemned was called to express repentance. The teachers of the Talmud decided that with the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin lost the right to sentence to death.

In Jewish law

To stoning was sentenced only for those 18 types of crimes for which the Bible expressly prescribes such an execution. However, in the Talmud, stoning was replaced by throwing the condemned on the stones. According to the Talmud, the condemned should be thrown from such a height that death occurs instantly, but his body was not disfigured. The stoning happened like this: the sentenced by the court was given an extract of narcotic herbs as an anesthetic, after which he was thrown off a cliff, and if he did not die from this, one large stone was thrown on top of him.

In Christianity

The Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church says: A special measure of punishment - the death penalty - was recognized in the Old Testament. There are no indications of the need to abolish it either in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, or in Tradition and the historical heritage of the Orthodox Church. At the same time, the Church often assumed the duty of mourning before the secular authorities about those condemned to death, asking for mercy and mitigation of punishment for them. Moreover, Christian moral influence brought up in the minds of people a negative attitude towards the death penalty. The Fundamentals of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Teaching on Dignity, Freedom and Human Rights says: Recognizing that the death penalty was acceptable in Old Testament times, and there are no indications of the need to abolish it “neither in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, nor in Tradition and the historical heritage of the Orthodox Church” , one cannot help but recall that “the Church often assumed the duty of mourning for those condemned to death, asking for mercy and mitigation of punishment for them” (Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, IX. 3). Protecting human life, the Church, regardless of society's attitude to the death penalty, is called to fulfill this duty of mourning.

In Buddhism

According to the first of the five basic precepts of Buddhism, harming other living beings is unacceptable. However, in practice, criminal (as well as civil, etc.) justice remains entirely at the discretion of the secular authorities.

DEATH IN THE MODERN WORLD

The death penalty in the Russian Federation, in accordance with the Constitution, is established by the Criminal Code as an exceptional punishment for especially grave crimes against life, while granting the accused the right to have his case considered by a jury. Last used in 1996. The death penalty is imposed on men between the ages of 18 and 65. The Criminal Code contains 5 articles providing for the death penalty:

Article 105 "Murder", part two

Article 277 "Encroachment on the life of a statesman or public figure"

Article 295 "Encroachment on the life of a person administering justice or preliminary investigation"

Article 317 "Encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer"

Article 357 "Genocide"

On November 19, 2009, the Russian Constitutional Court ruled that no courts in Russia could pass death sentences.

In Belarus

Today Belarus is the last country in Europe where the death penalty is applied. The death penalty is imposed for 12 categories of crimes in peacetime and 2 - in wartime. The list of categories of crimes punishable by death in Belarus includes “unleashing or waging an aggressive war” (Article 122, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Belarus), “murder of a representative of a foreign state, international organization with the aim of provoking international complications or war” (Art. 124, part 2), “international terrorism” (art. 126), “genocide” (art. 127), “crimes against the security of mankind” (art. 128), “intentional deprivation of life under aggravating circumstances” (art. 139 , part 2), “terrorism” (art. 289, part 3), “terrorist acts” (art. 359), “treason associated with murder” (art. 356, part 2), “conspiracy to seizure of state power” (art. 357, part 3), “sabotage” (art. 360, part 2), “murder of a police officer” (art. 362), “use of weapons of mass destruction” (art. 134), “murder of a person in the course of violating the laws and customs of war” (Article 135, part 3). In Belarus, almost all death sentences were handed down for "deliberate deprivation of life under aggravating circumstances." In 2005, 2 people were sentenced to death, in 2006 - 9 people. It is carried out by execution in the pre-trial detention center (SIZO No. 1) of the city of Minsk.

In Central Europe

In Lithuania in the 20th century, the legislation provided for execution. In December 1926, after a coup d'état, four leaders of the Communist Party were shot by a court verdict - Karolis Pozhela, Rapolas Charnas, Kazys Gedris and Juozas Greifenbergeris. In 1927, the former chief of the Lithuanian General Staff, Lieutenant General Konstantin Kleshchinsky, was executed for spying for the USSR. In the 1930s, the death penalty could also be carried out in the gas chamber: this is how some participants in the peasant riots of 1935 were executed.

In Poland, until 1939, execution was used for political crimes (the murderer of President Narutowicz, Eligiush Nevedomsky, was shot), for the rest, hanging.

The traditions of the death penalty in the US states usually include the right of the convict to the last supper (eng. Last meal) - food prepared a few hours before the execution in accordance with his request (with certain restrictions) and the right to the last word immediately before the execution of the sentence. Witnesses are usually present at the execution. The number and composition of persons who have the right to be present at the execution vary in different states, but, as a rule, relatives of the convicted person and his victims, lawyers, and a priest have such a right.

Middle East and Asia

In the Middle East, there are means of execution that have been used since ancient times: stoning, beheading with a sword, and hanging. In the times of the Ottoman Empire, impalement was widespread (it is not known whether it was actually a Turkish execution or inherited from Byzantium), which passed to neighboring Orthodox peoples, including Russia (in 1614 Zarutsky was impaled, and in 1718 Major Glebov ) and Romania (the ruler of Wallachia, Vlad III Dracula, known as the hero of Bram Stoker's novel, preferred this particular method, for which he was nicknamed Tepes, that is, "putting on a stake"). In republican Turkey (that is, in modern Turkey), before the abolition of the death penalty in 2002, there was only hanging, and this measure of punishment ceased to operate immediately after the ban; thus, Ocalan, originally sentenced to death, was commuted to life imprisonment.

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY

The death penalty as the highest form of punishment has caused and continues to cause fierce debate: its opponents cite the possibility of judicial errors, violation of the human right to life, etc. as evidence, and supporters say that based on the principle of revenge, punishment is justified for murderers, and the death penalty reaffirms the right to life by punishing those who most flagrantly violate this right.

Arguments against the death penalty.

Judicial errors Head of the Department of Citizenship and Pardon of the former Secretariat of the USSR Supreme Soviet G. Cheremnykh: “Judicial errors are no exception. » Nowhere has it been possible to create justice that works without errors. And this, in the presence of the death penalty, means that the innocent will inevitably be executed.

On the deterrent effect on potential criminals T. Marshall, Member of the US Supreme Court: “The death penalty has no more deterrent effect than life imprisonment” Pierpoint, former executioner, UK: “The fruit of my experience has a bitter aftertaste: I do not believe that death, although one of those executed by me somehow prevented other murders. I believe that the death penalty does not give any results. She is only revenge. “It would be wrong to accept the hypothesis that the death penalty affects the reduction in the number of murders to a much greater extent than the threat and use of a less severe, at first glance, punishment - life imprisonment.” (See: Roger Hood, The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective, Oxford, Clarendon Press, third edition, 2002, p. 230)

About the punishment of the criminal

The execution of a criminal gives rise to the illusion that society has been "purified" and that the lives of its members have become safer. Execution does not contribute to the fight against the social causes of the gravest crimes. Coretta S. King, widow of Martin Luther King: “As a man whose husband and mother-in-law were victims of murder, I strongly and unreservedly oppose the execution of those who commit crimes punishable by death. Evil is not corrected by evil committed as an act of retribution. Justice is not accomplished by depriving a person of his life. Morality is not strengthened by sanctioned killing. »

Subconscious cultural and historical roots

The main factors provoking crime are poverty, ignorance, inequality, mental deviations of a particular criminal. The death penalty cannot influence these reasons in any way Vladimir Putin: “I believe that the death penalty is senseless and counterproductive. The senselessness of the death penalty has been proven by the thousand-year history of mankind and modern civilization. »

Death penalty arguments

The death penalty as an act of humanism

The economic injustice of a life sentence

The death penalty as a deterrent to crime

The death penalty as a moral argument

The right to revenge

The death penalty as a form of social protection

Public opinion.

According to the data of the All-Russian Sociological Express Poll of VTsIOM for July 2001, 72% supported the death penalty for especially grave crimes against a person, with 9% of opponents. According to VTsIOM polls, in 2004, 84% of Russians were in favor of tightening legislation up to the introduction of the death penalty in matters of combating terrorism. In 2005, among those polled by VTsIOM, 96% supported the death penalty against terrorists, with 3% of opponents. Of the supporters, 78% said they were "fully supportive" and 18% said they were "rather supportive". At the same time, 84% of Russians surveyed expressed their support for lifting the moratorium on the death penalty. In turn, the polled residents of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation expressed their support for the death penalty almost unanimously. In June 2005, according to polls by the Levada Center Analytical Center, 65% were supporters of the death penalty, with 25% of opponents. According to the Sociological Faculty of Moscow State University. MV Lomonosov, received as of May 2002, supporters of the death penalty among judges were 89% of the respondents. After looking at the data, I wondered if this increase in people supporting the death penalty is due to an increase in crime. After searching for an answer, I found a chart showing the growth of crime over the years, FOM, where you can see how crime is growing, that is, I can say that the dependence I assumed really exists.

Traditionally, it is believed that a person acquires the right to life only from the moment of birth, but advocates of the prohibition of abortion and experiments with stem cells are trying to extend the right to life to human embryos.

Artificial abortion (from Latin abortus - miscarriage) - artificial termination of pregnancy by removing the fetus from the uterus up to 22 weeks from conception (until the birth of a viable child is possible) or at a later date. It can be performed both instrumentally and medically (provoking a miscarriage).

abortion in history.

In pagan antiquity, abortion was considered quite common. This was due to the idea that a newborn was considered a person only after the sublatio rite, when the father, raising the baby above his head in the temple, recognized him as a new member of his family.

Plato (427-347 B.C.) wrote, "Midwives may assist pregnant women or have a miscarriage if desired." Aristotle (384-322 BC) spoke of the same thing: “If spouses have children against expectation, then the fetus must be corroded before sensations and life appear in it.” A diametrically opposite approach is reflected in the original version of the Hippocratic oath dating from the same period (5th century BC): “I will not give any woman an abortion pessary.”

The topic of abortion was widely discussed in society. Ovid Nason (43 BC - 17 AD) wrote ("Elegiae", librum II "Amores"):

Mother, who extinguished life in the womb of the fetus,

Then she must die a painful death.

Only then, to avoid ugly scars

You're up in arms for such a terrible thing.

With a sharp weapon you torment your body,

You give deadly poison to an infant before birth.

The lioness does not kill the little cubs,

Pity their ferocious tigress living in the gorge.

Meek girls do it, but Kara

They are overtaken, and often, having destroyed their fruit,

They themselves die a painful long death.

With the advent of Christianity, the view of abortion has changed. Abortion was strongly condemned at the Sixth Council in Constantinople. The saying of Pope Stephen V (VI), included in his message “Consuluisti de infantibus” (887 or 888), is widely known: “Si ille, qui conceptum in utero per abortum deleverit, homicida est” (“If someone eliminates the conceived in his mother's womb, he is a murderer."

In the Middle Ages, abortion was condemned by all existing laws and regulations and severely punished. Only in France during the Enlightenment (1738-1794) did they begin to talk about mitigating punishment for women, taking into account their specific situations, but after the French Revolution, according to the Napoleonic Code, the unequivocal penalty for abortion was returned.

Moral aspect

In the modern world, the permissibility of abortion and its limits is one of the most controversial issues, including religious, ethical, medical, social and legal aspects. In some countries (for example, in the USA, Poland), this problem has become so acute that it has caused a split and violent confrontation in society.

The main dividing society is the question - is an already existing human life interrupted during an abortion? Those who believe that only a fetus that is not a person (child) is inside the womb, treat abortion as a medical procedure and use exclusively medical terminology - "fetal egg", "fetus", "embryo", "embryo". Opponents of abortion talk about "conceived child", "unborn child", "child in the womb." A large number of believers, in particular Christians, regard abortion as the murder of a person, although at an early stage of its development.

Public opinion on this issue is reflected in a video clip from the Internet calling for no abortions.

EUTHANASIA

Euthanasia (or euthanasia) (Greek ευ- “good” + θάνατος “death”) is the practice of terminating (or shortening) the life of a person suffering from an incurable disease, experiencing unbearable suffering, satisfying a request without medical indications in a painless or minimally painful form with the goal of cessation of suffering.

On foreign sites, the term "euthanasia" can be used in a non-traditional sense for the Russian language - in relation to stray dogs, when healthy animals are killed in order to reduce their population in cities. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, the term in this sense has been increasingly used in Russia. In particular, in Moscow municipal shelters for homeless animals, it is planned to euthanize, or euthanize, dogs kept for more than six months and unclaimed by new owners. This method is opposed by a number of Russian organizations of fighters for animal rights, who consider it unacceptable to take the life of any living beings. At their rallies in defense of stray dogs in 2009, they spoke under the slogan "No to euthanasia"

The term "euthanasia" was first used by Francis Bacon in the 16th century to define "easy death". Prior to World War II, the idea of euthanasia was widespread in a number of European countries. At that time, euthanasia and eugenics were quite popular in the medical circles of European countries, but the specific actions of the Nazis discredited these ideas for a long time. Among famous people, we note Z. Freud, who, due to an incurable form of cancer of the palate, with the help of Dr. Schur, committed euthanasia in his London house on September 23, 1939 time has not been applied).

ATTITUDE TO EUTHANASIA

Euthanasia and the Hippocratic Oath

The idea of euthanasia at the end of the twentieth century is becoming more and more popular, along with the increased use of another important concept, the quality of life. The Hippocratic Oath in its traditional form contradicts the implementation of the idea of euthanasia.

Legislative regulation

The Netherlands has become a pioneer in the legalization of voluntary death. In 1984, the country's Supreme Court found voluntary euthanasia acceptable.

Euthanasia was legalized in Belgium in 2002. In 2003, euthanasia helped 200 terminally ill patients lose their lives, and in 2004, 360 patients. Since April 2005, special euthanasia kits have appeared in Belgian pharmacies to simplify the procedure for voluntary death. The kit, which costs about 60 euros, includes a disposable syringe with poison and other necessary injection equipment. The euthanasia kit can only be ordered by a medical practitioner, who must specify the exact dosage of the poisonous substance. You can place an order after contacting one of the 250 Belgian pharmacies that have the appropriate license. By law in Belgium, a person over the age of 18 who suffers from an incurable disease can be euthanized. After several written requests confirming the firm determination of the patient, the doctor can perform euthanasia. According to official statistics, in 40 percent of cases, euthanasia is carried out at the patient's home. In the United States, a law allowing the provision of medical assistance for suicide to patients in the terminal stage was passed (with a number of restrictions) in November 1994 in the state of Oregon, and in November 2008 in the state of Washington. In Ukraine and Kazakhstan, euthanasia of people is prohibited by law. In Russia, both active and passive euthanasia is a crime and will be qualified as premeditated murder in accordance with Part 1 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. When imposing a penalty on a person guilty of euthanasia (naturally, unless other reasons for deprivation of life are proven), a mitigating circumstance will be taken into account in accordance with paragraph "e" of Part 1 of Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely: the commission of a crime under compassion motive.

Euthanasia without medical necessity

A healthy Canadian citizen was euthanized at the Dignitas Clinic in Zurich. She motivated her request by the fact that she wants to leave with her terminally ill husband.

Euthanasia and politics

Socio-political activities aimed at convincing public opinion of the permissibility of euthanasia, that is, satisfying the request of a terminally ill patient to hasten his death by any actions or means, is carried out in many countries. Supporters of euthanasia argue their position with considerations of humanity, while opponents consider it to be a legalization of assistance in suicide. In some countries, as, for example, in Australia, the promotion of euthanasia entails criminal penalties under the articles "incitement to suicide", "assistance in suicide" and others. In some countries (Netherlands, Belgium) euthanasia is allowed by law. In Russia, on April 16, 2007, the deputy of the State Assembly of Bashkiria, Edward Murzin, proposed an amendment to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which would be required after the possible legalization of euthanasia. At the same time, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation prepared a bill legalizing euthanasia in Russia, which immediately caused a wave of criticism from the public.

PRACTICAL PART.

Having considered three problems: the death penalty, abortion, euthanasia, I conducted a sociological survey of various representatives of society: employees of the internal affairs bodies, doctors, teachers, students. More than 100 people took part in the survey, I systematized them by gender, occupation, and age.

Employee of the internal affairs bodies:

Employees of the internal affairs bodies are quite radical about each problem, most of all substantiated these answers with their personal experience, that is, they said that every criminal should be punished, it is better for a young girl to have an abortion than then her child will end up in an orphanage, or will found frozen in the street.

Doctors, as well as police officers, explained their choice by personal experience, and some women, speaking about abortions and euthanasia, gave an example of how seriously ill doctors who perform abortions, and justify this from the point of view of religion.

I divided the teachers according to their age, because considering the data obtained, I saw a rather large difference in the opinions of people of quite different ages. Teachers aged 29-35 years old are radical about these problems, explaining this by the fact that every criminal (especially maniacs, murderers, terrorists) should be punished in proportion to his crime, the opinion regarding abortion is the same as that of the police, and euthanasia is the choice of everyone . In the older generation, the opinion on the death penalty is the same as the younger one, but in other categories there is a large percentage of abstentions, the respondents explained this: “it's everyone's choice” and “it all depends on the situation”.

The answers of the younger group of respondents do not differ much from the rest, most of them are for the death penalty against abortion and for euthanasia, explaining the latter by the fact that let a person die with what he suffers.

“So, with difficulty trying to develop

Like a ball of some complex yarn,

Suddenly you will see what should be called

Immortality"

Nikolay Zabolotsky

In my work, I considered one of the most controversial human rights. Yes, perhaps the death penalty should exist as the highest and most terrible punishment, because on the example of history, you can see how much people are afraid of death, how hard it is to cross the line of the law, beyond which it awaits them. Abortion, in my opinion, is not an acceptable measure, it is a murder, even if a person has not yet appeared, but, nevertheless, a person. My opinion confirms the opinions of millions of people from different countries of the world, reflected in the video clip. Euthanasia is a person's choice, although of course it is also murder, but there are situations when a person chooses death. Perhaps for a person suffering from a fatal disease, it is easier to die than to live a short life in torment.

Having considered this topic, I asked myself the question: “Does human life have value?”. Asking this question to friends, I heard the answer: "yes, of course." Yes, they are right, but unfortunately, the definition of value does not fit the definition of life, since value is the objective significance of the diverse components of reality, the content of which is determined by the needs and interests of society. And now, imagine what would happen if the mothers of Einstein or Plato had an abortion, although history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood, but if you think about it, you can only imagine how much the life of all mankind would change. Thus, I can conclude that life is a value, and only modern society, the life world of everyone is to blame for the fact that many people think about justice, in my opinion the most just right, the right to life.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Introduction

1. Death penalty

1.1 History of the death penalty

1.2 History of the death penalty in Russia

2. Types of death penalty

2.1 Typology of the death penalty

Conclusion

Application

Introduction

The problem of the death penalty worries more than one generation. It affects both legal and moral, religious, ethical and other aspects. The problem of the death penalty is complex and ambiguous. It is impossible to solve it without weighing all the pros and cons, without being guided by the realities of life. The death penalty as a form of punishment for really serious crimes is an important part of the criminal law. By its presence or absence in the list of punishments, sometimes, with varying degrees of justification, they judge the democratic nature of the state.

At present, the relevance of the death penalty is also due to the fact that now many states are going to mitigate legislation, while abolishing the death penalty. In this regard, the question arises of the legality and admissibility of the death penalty, as well as its necessity and expediency.

At the moment, there are many discussions on this topic, and I decided to express my point of view on this difficult issue, in addition, I am interested in this socio-legal phenomenon.

In modern society, there are three theoretical positions in relation to the problem of this type of punishment as the death penalty. Some scientists and practitioners are entirely against the use of the death penalty and for its immediate abolition, explaining this by the immorality and inappropriateness of such punishment. Others support the use of the death penalty, considering it not only as a legal restriction, but also as the physical destruction of the criminal, which guarantees society complete safety from such an act of this person. Still others, while supporting this measure in principle, are in favor of reducing the use and gradual abolition of the death penalty. All these opinions are quite well-founded, and the choice of the most correct approach to the problem of the death penalty seems difficult.

So, in this paper, we will consider in more detail the death penalty: history and modernity. Significant issues and contemporary problems concerning the death penalty.

1. Death penalty

1.1 History of the death penalty

The death penalty is one of the most ancient forms of punishment.

Initially, it arose during the implementation of the talion principle: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

The prototype of the death penalty in ancient states was blood feud. But in the future, the state took over the functions of sanctioning the death penalty, and then the administration of justice. So, for example, the laws of Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), the Indian laws of Manu (2000-12000 BC), the laws of the Hittites (1600-1200 BC), the laws of Draco in Ancient Greece (621 BC), the laws of the 12 tables in Ancient Rome (450 BC), provided for the widespread use of the death penalty.

Despite the fact that in the future, for most acts, the talion principle was replaced by the payment of a fine in favor of the victim, the death penalty was retained in most states.

The death penalty, as one of the oldest institutions of criminal law, has constantly accompanied the history of human development.

Considering that the death penalty serves as a prevention - a general warning, the ancient legislator sought to make it the most painful and frightening.

Among most peoples in antiquity and the Middle Ages, animals were also responsible for their actions. They were subjected to investigation, trial and death penalty on an equal basis with people. For example, in 1474 a rooster was accused in Switzerland and sentenced to death for witchcraft.

So, from the above, we can conclude that the ancient society came up with such a harsh method of punishment, guided primarily by a thirst for revenge and intimidation of people.

1.1 History of the death penalty in Russia

The death penalty is one of the most ancient punishments known to Russian criminal law. In Ancient Russia, the death penalty was first mentioned in the charter given in 1397 by the Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich to the inhabitants of the Dvina land: for theft for the third time. In fact, this punishment was used much earlier - in the form of blood feud, as well as at the direction of the princes. But all these cases of application of the death penalty did not have a legal nature of punishment, therefore, it was a measure of state coercion.

In the future, the death penalty is becoming more widespread in the sources of law. In the Pskov Judicial Letter of 1497, the death penalty was established for 5 types of acts, in the Sudebnik of 1497 - for 10, the Sudebnik of 1550 - for 13, in the Cathedral Code of 1649 - for more than 60. The Code also regulated the methods of execution, which were divided into simple ones (cutting off the head, hanging and drowning), which only caused death, and qualified ones (burning, filling the throat with metal, squeezing on a stake, quartering, wheeling, burying in the ground up to the neck, etc.), which prolonged the torment of the executed.

The number of those executed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible reached enormous proportions. The period of the greatest use of the death penalty is the era of Peter I, but, unlike the Code of 1649, the number of methods of the death penalty was reduced to three: arquebus (execution), decapitation, hanging. During the reign of Anna Ivanovna, the cruelty of the methods of the death penalty increased again, and hanging on a hook by the rib was also added. Elizabeth suspended the execution of the death penalty, although she did not completely abolish it. The death penalty was replaced by whipping, branding and exile. In 1767, the Order of Empress Catherine II was published, who was an opponent of the death penalty, but did not completely deny it.

In practice, the death penalty was widely used, especially after the Pugachev uprising.

In the Code of Laws of 1832, the death penalty was determined for serious types of state crimes. The Criminal Code of 1903 also provided for the death penalty for the most serious political crimes, while persons under 21 and over 70 years of age, as well as women, were exempted from execution. But despite this, the death penalty continued to be applied in Russia until the February Revolution. On March 12, 1917, the Provisional Government abolished the death penalty, and on July 12 issued an order to restore the death penalty in the army. Thus, the qualified ways of applying the death penalty in the laws of Russia have been finally abolished, although the death penalty, except for a few short periods, continues to be applied. In the Soviet period, the only criminally established method of applying the death penalty was execution, which is still used today.

Despite the fact that the Soviet state has always treated the death penalty as a temporary and exceptional measure of criminal punishment (it was canceled three times - in 1917, 1920 and 1947), this measure was finally abolished neither in the 20s nor in the 30s was not.

“The sword does not cut a guilty head” - this Russian proverb characterizes the law of that time in the best possible way.

2. Types of death penalty

2.1 Typology of the death penalty

There is a division of the death penalty into qualified and unskilled. With a qualified death penalty for different crimes, different types of it can be assigned, with an unqualified one, the legislation provides for one type of death penalty for all crimes for which the death sentence can be imposed.

Here are some of the types of death penalty:

Hanging, beheading, firing squad, electric chair, injection, gassing, crucifixion, burning, drowning, burying alive, stoning, caning, quartering, wheeling, cutting the body in half, pouring molten metal into the throat, impaling, hanging on the edge per hook, eaten by sharks, eaten by rats, frozen, dissolved in acid.

From this we can conclude that many types of executions sought not to alleviate, but to prolong the suffering of the convict.

2.2 Obsolete forms of capital punishment

In the past, the attitude to death and the death penalty among many peoples was different than it is now. The death penalty was a special event that attracted huge crowds of spectators.

Crucifixion (see picture 1). Death on the cross was considered among the Romans and Israelites the most shameful execution, to which only hardened villains and traitors were sentenced. As the apostle Paul says, "For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." The Apostle Paul Epistle to the Galatians of the Holy Apostle Paul The famous orator Cicero believed that even a mere mention of the crucifixion defiles the lips of a Roman citizen. Condemned to be crucified, the executioners undressed, leaving only a loincloth, tied to a wooden cross and beaten with leather whips or freshly cut rods. Then the condemned had to carry his own cross to the place of execution. Usually it was a hill outside the city or just the side of the road. The cross was dug into the ground, the convict was lifted onto the crossbar with ropes, tied to it, and then his hands were nailed. Legs were sometimes tied, sometimes nailed. Those who were crucified usually had their shins broken, which led to a quick death from suffocation, since in order to breathe on the cross, you need to raise your chest, leaning on your legs. If the shins were not interrupted, the person died from dehydration.

Burning (see figure 3). This type of death penalty was mentioned even before the birth of the Christian era. But its real heyday came in the Middle Ages. This is due to the fact that the Inquisition chose burning as a priority type of execution for heretics. The death penalty threatened people for especially severe cases of heresy. Moreover, if the convict repented, then he was first strangled, after which the dead body was burned. If the heretic persisted, he was supposed to be burned alive. Particular zeal in the "fiery" fight against heretics was shown by the English Queen Mary Tudor, who received the nickname Bloody, and the Supreme Inquisitor of Spain, Torquemada. According to the historian H.-A. Llorente, during the 18 years of Torquemada's activity, 8800 people climbed the fire.

Crucifixion and burning are those representatives from a rather large list that, with the gradual development of society, have become less and less popular types of execution, and in the modern world have completely outlived themselves.

2.3 Exotic forms of capital punishment

In the past, a huge number of types of the death penalty were used, many of them were enshrined in legislation. Despite this, many rulers introduced their own methods. In Russia, Ivan the Terrible became especially famous for this. One of his favorite types of execution is to sew up the convict in a bearskin ("sheathe it like a bear") and hunt it down with dogs. He once ordered several monks to be tied to a barrel of gunpowder and blown up - so that they would immediately fly to heaven. It was also used to cut out pieces of meat from the body, remove the skin, alternately dousing with boiling water and cold water, and boiling in a liquid.

Burial alive. This type of execution began to be applied in ancient Rome to the Vestals for the loss of virginity. In medieval Russia, such an execution was applied to a wife who killed her husband. The victim, buried in the ground up to his shoulders, usually died on the second or third day from dehydration and hunger. The Russian princess Olga thus dealt with the envoys of the Drevlyans who killed her husband, Prince Igor. The delegation of the Drevlyans asked the widowed Olga to become the wife of their prince. On reflection, the princess said that she agreed in principle; let the Drevlyans return to their boat and go to bed, and in the morning people from the princely court will come for them and carry them to Olga’s yard right in the boat, as a sign of special honor. Meanwhile, during the night, on the orders of Olga, a huge deep hole was dug in the terem yard. In the morning, the messengers of the Drevlyans were indeed carried in a boat. They sat proudly with their hands on their hips. However, at the princely court, the boat with the messengers was thrown into a dug hole. "And, clinging to the pit," the chronicler testifies, "Olga asked them, 'Is honor good for you?' Duchess Olga. History of capital punishment

Wheeling. According to the description of the Russian scientist of the 19th century, Professor A.F. Kistyakovsky, the method of wheeling was as follows: “The St. Andrew’s cross, made of two logs, was tied to the scaffold in a horizontal position. ft. On this cross they stretched the criminal so that his face was turned to the sky, each end of it lay on one of the branches of the cross, and in every place of each joint it was tied to the cross.Then the executioner, armed with an iron square crowbar, struck part of the penis between the joint, which just lay above the notch.In this way, the bones of each member were broken in two places.The operation ended with two or three blows to the stomach and breaking the backbone.The criminal, broken in this way, was placed on a horizontally placed wheel so that the heels converged with back of the head, and left him in that position to die." Wheeling was used both in ancient times and in the Middle Ages.

Civilization has improved the types of execution, but as for ingenuity and originality, then our ancestors will give us a hundred points ahead.

2.4 Modern forms of the death penalty

In most countries of the world, in our time, simple methods of the death penalty are used, legislators seek to make the deprivation of a person's life as painless and quick as possible. However, some states retain qualifying forms of the death penalty.

Hanging. In 1905, French physician Nikolaus Minowice performed strangulation experiments on himself to describe the condition that occurs when hanging. Of course, Minowitz tried to secure these experiments. He modeled the unfinished hanging as follows: through a block attached to the ceiling, a cord 5 millimeters in diameter was passed, one end of which the doctor held in his right hand, and the other end, tied in a loop, put on his neck. Then Minowitz lay down on the floor (on his left side) and pulled the rope with his right hand until he could stand it. The doctor's face turned purple, an unpleasant noise arose in his ears, fiery circles flashed before his eyes. Minowitz gradually complicated the experiments and tried to "get used" to the condition of a hanged man by repeating the tightening of the loop up to 6-7 times in a row, each time lasting 4-5 seconds. Finally, he decided on an almost pure experiment: he did not lie on the floor, but hung in a noose, which was held by an assistant through a block. The maximum length of stay in the loop that Minowitz managed to achieve was 26 seconds. Describing his feelings, the doctor stated: “As soon as my legs came off the support, my eyelids clenched convulsively. The airways were blocked so tightly that I could neither inhale nor exhale. the voices of an assistant pulling the cord and marking the time with a stopwatch. In the end, pain and lack of air forced me to stop the experiment. When the experiment was completed and I went downstairs, tears splashed from my eyes. " Nikolaus Minowitz. History of capital punishment

The modern technology of hanging, which is used by most countries that use such an execution, is as follows: "The convict is hung on a rope wrapped around his neck; death occurs as a result of the pressure of the rope on the body under the influence of gravity. Loss of consciousness and death occur as a result of damage to the spinal cord or (if this is not enough to cause death) due to asphyxia from compression of the trachea" Nikolaus Minowitz. History of the death penalty. This technology was developed in 1949-1953. Royal Commission on the death penalty in the UK.

Execution. With the invention of gunpowder and firearms, this type of execution began to be used on a huge scale. Especially often it was used in the conditions of hostilities due to its simplicity and cheapness. The execution is carried out by one performer or a rifle unit. Death occurs from the action of one or more factors: damage to vital organs, such as the heart, damage to the central nervous system, or from loss of blood. If the shooting is carried out by a rifle unit, an immediate loss of consciousness may not occur, since the shooters are at a distance from the executed, which causes a decrease in shooting accuracy. In addition, they are sometimes ordered to aim at the body of a person, since the probability of hitting this is higher than when shooting at the head. This problem was pointed out by the Royal Commission, which, while considering various methods of execution with a view to their possible use in the UK, considered the execution by the rifle unit unacceptable because it requires "a large number of persons carrying out death sentences", and also because "this the type of execution does not satisfy even the first requirement for an effective method, that is, it does not guarantee the immediate onset of death "Royal Commission. History of capital punishment

Modern types of the death penalty are aimed at the instantaneous deprivation of life without torment, which is strikingly different from the ancient methods of execution.

3. The use of the death penalty in modern states

In developed countries, the death penalty is always preceded by a lengthy trial at various levels, the defendant is given opportunities to appeal. Often this leads to the fact that years or even decades pass between the sentencing and its execution (or pardon, as well as the death of the convicted person from other causes). For example, in the United States (Georgia), Jack Alderman was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife on June 14, 1975 at the age of 24, and was executed only on September 16, 2008 at the age of 57, more than 33 years later.

Execution can only be carried out by an authorized representative of the state, otherwise this action is considered murder and is punishable by law.

In most modern states, the death penalty is carried out non-publicly, that is, only persons specified by law have the right to attend it (for example, according to the criminal executive code of Russia, a prosecutor, a representative of the prison in which the execution is carried out, and a doctor).

In some cases, the death penalty can be commuted to life imprisonment or a long term of imprisonment by a court decision. A person sentenced to death by a court may also be pardoned by the highest official of the state or state (president, monarch, prime minister, governor, etc.).

Modern world trends are directed towards the abolition of the death penalty. In 1989-1995 it has been canceled in 25 countries. Thus, at the end of the 90s of the last century, the death penalty was completely abolished in 72 states, in 30 it was not used, and in 90 it was retained. In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the death penalty is included in the list of punishments (Article 44), and the procedure for its application is regulated by Art. 59, and it can be replaced by life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of 25 years.

In a special part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the death penalty is provided for premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances (Article 105, part 2), encroachment on the life of a statesman or public figure (Article 277), encroachment on the life of a person administering justice or preliminary investigation (Article .295), encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer (Art. 317), genocide (Art. 357). In accordance with part 2 of article 20 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the consideration of a criminal case with a penalty that provides for the death penalty is carried out with the participation of jurors.

In our time, most states have abandoned the public enforcement of the sentence. According to the UN, in 1980-1990. in 22 countries, the death penalty was carried out publicly, including China, Pakistan, Somalia, Nigeria, Iran, Yemen, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Syria, etc.

Thus, most states reduce the use of the death penalty and humanize its methods.

death penalty criminal punishment

4. The death penalty: for and against

The first weighty argument is "human life is an inalienable value, therefore the state has no right to take it away."

Everything seems to be logical. But does the killer really have such a right?

Today in Russia the number of people sentenced to life imprisonment, including those who, by way of pardon, the death penalty was replaced by life imprisonment, is more than one and a half thousand people. Almost all of them are murderers. 33 percent of them are in prison for murders due to mercenary motives, 18 percent - committed murders with special cruelty, 12 percent - committed murders involving rape, 11 percent - committed murders as part of a group, 9 percent - committed murders of representatives of the authorities, 7 percent - the so-called "domestic" killers.

More than 30 percent are chronic alcoholics and drug addicts, more than half are recidivists.

The current legislation allows them to be released after 25 years. If we take into account that the average age of “life-sentenced” is about thirty years, then a healthy 55-year-old man who has lost all social ties, without an apartment, without work, but with a firm position in life, will be released “with a clear conscience”: society is to blame for everything that happened to him.

Society has an obligation to protect itself from degenerates. If an individual person has the right to necessary defense, then the society of people should have such a right. With the necessary defense, a person, if his life is in danger, can inflict any harm on the attacker, and the society of people should also have this right. This is not the principle of "talion", which sweet-voiced human rights activists talk about, who never encounter a killer in a dark corner, but the principle of a normal self-defense mechanism.

The next argument of the opponents of the death penalty is "the death penalty does not intimidate and does not deter people from committing serious crimes."

The argument is certainly spectacular, what to say. Only unfaithful. Why should the death penalty be intimidating? Whom should she intimidate? If earlier it really had the purpose of intimidation, and this has already been said, now the purpose of the execution has changed. And the goal is one. Removal from society of a creature that has lost its human appearance.

To keep a person from committing a brutal murder by retaining the death penalty is an argument that would-be human rights activists apparently invented themselves, based on their own moral principles. A normal person will not do this, not because he can be executed, but because it simply does not occur to him.

Statistics show that the abolition or introduction of the death penalty does not affect the overall level of crime. Yes, it shouldn't affect it. There are not so many crimes that deserve the death penalty, they do not give interest in statistics. But the moral state of society, when people know that no matter what they do, they will only be imprisoned, but not shot, will worsen. And the mother, whose only daughter was raped and killed, and her neighbors, and people who heard about it, will know: there is NO justice.

Everyone remembers the sensational story about a professor at one of the prestigious universities, who was previously an opponent of the death penalty, but after the brutal murder of his daughter and her fiancé, became its supporter. The man came face to face with the beast.

Another argument in favor of the abolition of the death penalty is the impossibility of real remorse for the offender.

The thing is that the death penalty is not carried out in relation to "accidentally stumbled man." Briefly describe the portrait of such a criminal, then this is a 30-year-old man with a strong anti-social, asocial orientation. A man with an atrophied soul and conscience. He doesn't care about people's suffering. He despises them. As a rule, already being imprisoned, many of them pick up a book for the first time in many years. Usually it's the Bible. Is it possible for him to repent? Maybe. However, according to employees of the institutions where such criminals are serving their sentences, “going into religion” is, as a rule, a way to get some kind of material benefits. For such people, nothing is sacred.

However, even earlier, in the 1970s and 1980s, the death penalty was not carried out immediately. It happened that more than one year passed before the condemned was taken out to be shot. It is quite possible to legislate that the death penalty is carried out not earlier than two or three years after the sentence enters into force. And here is the work of prison educators and psychologists. After the expiration of this period, they must give a balanced objective description with the involvement of specialists, whether the person has really changed his attitude to crime, to society. And if the answer is yes, then in order to pardon this person should receive a life sentence.

Human rights activists also repeat that, they say, life imprisonment is better because the death penalty is carried out quickly, and with life imprisonment, the offender suffers. “You know what conditions are in our country,” they yell, shaking their shriveled fists.

Conditions are like conditions. No worse than in the same America. Three meals a day, a bath once a week, clean linen, constant medical and psychological supervision. Only now people working with such a contingent receive a penny - but this is our Russian tradition: the more a person brings benefits, the less he receives.

The most important and deadly argument of the opponents of the death penalty is "judicial error". This argument overshadows others. He is thrown onto the table like a marked ace out of his sleeve. And the defeated supporters of the death penalty are embarrassedly silent.

The counterargument given by the supporters of the execution, that, they say, medical errors also happen from which people die, of course, does not stand up to scrutiny.

Yes, the fact that a person died after a wrong diagnosis, wrong treatment, wrong operation is a great grief.

But not a disgrace. His relatives and friends are disgraced. Flowers will never be placed on his grave, and at the mention of his name, people will spit. There is a difference? Huge.

So what to do? Indeed, this is a huge problem. The quality of our preliminary investigation has recently declined. And is it quite possible that as a result of a poorly conducted investigation, or malicious intent, a completely innocent person will be sentenced to death?

Professor of the Rostov Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and part-time - the famous writer Daniil Arkadyevich Koretsky proposed an option: truth serum.

It is necessary to create a legal procedure for taking evidence from the accused.

Today there is a lie detector. They say that it can be deceived by mentally temperate people. But if you offer the accused in a jury trial to go through this procedure, and if there are doubts about the veracity of the results, then with the consent of the defendant, an interrogation with the use of psychotropic drugs should be scheduled.

Is this an invasion of a person's privacy? Yes! Undoubtedly. The use of this substance can spoil human health? Yes! But he will be alive, and spared from a grave charge.

In my opinion, this procedure should be fixed legally, and everything should be spelled out in it every minute. The interrogation must be carried out by the jury in the absence of prosecutors and police officers. For what? The state must refuse to prosecute this person if, during interrogation, the facts of his participation in other, yet unsolved crimes are revealed. The state should investigate such crimes in the usual, statutory manner. The jurors must give an undertaking not to disclose facts that are not related to this case, which became known to them during interrogation.

The course of the interrogation should be recorded, and if the prosecutor's office or a higher court disagrees, it should again be demonstrated only to a jury in a different composition.

In this way, judicial errors can be kept to an absolute minimum.

The death penalty is considered, first of all, not as retribution to a specific criminal, but as a form of protecting society from antisocial elements. Hence the euphemism "The highest measure of social protection", which was used in the USSR during Stalin's time as a synonym for the concept of "death penalty".

5. The attitude of society towards the death penalty

Now the issue of the death penalty depends on the will of the majority of State Duma deputies, who must decide whether they will ratify Protocol No. 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which implies the abolition of execution as a form of criminal punishment, or not.

Most citizens of the Russian Federation would like to restore the death penalty, because they do not believe "in the good nature of people who have embarked on a criminal path," sociological surveys show. However, the parliamentary majority in the State Duma, on which the prospects for execution in Russia now completely depend, is inclined towards the complete abolition of such punishment, since it considers "the life of every person is important.

As the analytical Levada Center found out in the course of a recent all-Russian poll, 41% of Russians consider it necessary to "restore the death penalty within the previous framework" that was in force before the moratorium. Only 12% were in favor of "completely abolishing it." And another 24% find it sufficient to "observe the moratorium."

VTsIOM VTsIOM, the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, decided to find out what kind of crimes cause in the mass consciousness a desire for the most cruel punishment. For the vast majority (79%), it is "juvenile rape." Russians show the greatest mercy to spies and corrupt officials, who deserve execution only in the opinion of 22% of citizens.

At the same time, as Vladimir Gruzdev, deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Criminal, Civil, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation of United Russia, noted in an interview with the newspaper, Russians do not seem to be aware that the current Criminal Code provides for the death penalty only for brutal premeditated murder, for the murder of a judge, law enforcement officer, prosecutor's office, for genocide. And the maximum punishment, for example, for rape is 20 years in prison. Execution for terrorists is also not provided.

Conclusion

So, in the process of writing the essay, I found out that punishment, as a legal restriction, is associated with state coercion and is a counteraction to illegal behavior.

The death penalty as a criminal punishment also acts as a legal restriction, a legal means to deter criminals. One can argue about whether the death penalty is effective or not, whether it is needed or not needed at this stage of social development, whether it should be abolished or not, but there is no doubt that the death penalty is a deterrent. It takes its place, participating to the best of its ability in deterring criminals, along with other economic, social, political, and spiritual factors.

Now, with the widespread imposition of democratic principles in the world and in Russia, many states practice imposing a moratorium on the death penalty (ie, deferment of its execution). Today in Russia the death penalty is not applied, very often the death penalty is replaced by life imprisonment.

I believe that the death penalty, regardless of whether the perpetrator deserved it, is an inhuman form of punishment. A criminal is, first of all, a person, and a person's life is the highest value.

List of used literature

1. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation No. 63-FZ of June 13, 1996 (adopted by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on May 24, 1996) (current version)

Application

Crucifixion (Figure 1)

Chopping off the head (Figure 2)

Burning (picture 3)

Wheeling (picture 4)

Hosted on Allbest.ru

...

death penalty

The very emergence of punishment in the form of the death penalty was born only with a strong state and the same ruling apparatus. Understanding the whole catastrophe of the talion principle, when everyone could kill each other without punishment, the authorities take the death penalty into their own hands and award it only to those who have committed grave crimes. Thus, the number of deaths among the population was much reduced, and there was a real opportunity for the ruling apparatus to keep the people under control. The death penalty began to decline when the power of the people became stronger, and they could stand up for their rights and completely reject the death penalty, as a relic of the past, barbaric times.

But still, the states that keep the people in humility by force and have in their traditions such a form of punishment as the death penalty, still do not want to abolish it and apply it only in the rarest and most difficult cases.

In conclusion, we can say that such a form of punishment as the death penalty has been known to mankind since the very beginning of the dawn of civilization, and its presence in modern countries simply gives reason to think about the presence of totalitarian regimes and human rights violations there.

Tumanov Andrey Andreevich, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Murmansk State Technical University, Murmansk [email protected]

The history of the formation of the institution of the death penalty

Annotation. The article is devoted to the issues of the origin, historical formation, and development of the institution of the death penalty, its state at the present stage. Key words: death penalty, justice, criminal liability, criminal punishment.

The death penalty has always been and, of course, for a long time will remain one of the institutions of criminal and penal law, attracting increased attention from the public and researchers.

The global trend of recent years is the movement towards the rejection of the use of the death penalty or its limitation.

Currently, more than half of all states in the world have taken the path of legislative abolition of the death penalty, or do not apply it in practice. The statistics are:

80 states have abolished the death penalty for all types of crime (Austria, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, France, Sweden, Australia, a number of Latin American countries),

15 states have abolished the death penalty for all types of crime, except in exceptional cases, such as war crimes (Argentina, Brazil, Great Britain, Israel, Spain, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, and so on)

23 states have introduced a moratorium on the imposition and execution of the death penalty, and although this type of punishment is retained in the legislation, in practice it is not imposed or executed (for example, Belgium, Bolivia, Greece),

78 states retain and apply the death penalty, but the number of countries that actually execute convicts is becoming significantly smaller (some of the former Soviet republics, former socialist countries, thirty-eight US states, a number of Asian countries, a group of African states, all Arab states). Practice shows that after the legislative abolition of the death penalty, this measure of punishment is rarely restored. For example, since 1985 more than 50 states

have abolished the death penalty in law, and only 4 countries from this list have returned capital punishment. One of them

Nepal has to date re-abolished the death penalty, and another Philippines first returned and then suspended the execution of sentences again. In two other states, the Gambia, Papua New Guinea, to date, the execution of death sentences has not been recorded. However, within the framework of this study, we will turn not to the trends of the modern world, but to the history of the emergence of this legal institution, its development and formation. The concept of guilt, which entails punishment, punishment, retribution has existed for as long as human civilization itself has existed. The most terrible and destructive form of retribution, of course, is the death penalty. The first prototype of this institution in ancient states was blood feud. However, along with its development, in the future, the state took over the functions of sanctioning the death penalty, and then the administration of justice. Information about the use of the death penalty is about the same age as the information about the first states. As a type of punishment legalized in the legal sense, the death penalty appeared with the beginning of the strengthening of power, during the transition to a society regulated by fixed legal relations. For example, on the islands of Tonga until the time of the late Neolithic and Eneolithic (105 thousand years BC), where all the land was considered the property of the leaders, the death penalty was punished by the death penalty for ordinary members of the primitive community to move with their land allotment to another leader. With the transition from tribal to territorial division, the legal system improved and developed, and, accordingly, new types of crimes and punishments appeared. However, at the same time, the death penalty in the proto-state formations was imposed for offenses that were considered reprehensible in this historical and cultural area. For example, in one place, an encroachment on the property of the nobility was punishable by death, in another, a violation of exogamous or caste marriage prohibitions, in a third, the loss of the “sacred power” by the leader of the tribe, which allowed him to command nature. As a good example, we can cite the Shilluks (Upper Nile), who showed very high respect for their leaders, but, however, killed them after reaching a certain age out of fear that the decrepitude of the leader would worsen crops, livestock offspring, and the people themselves in the tribe would get sick and die more often. With the emergence of state-legal relations, the so-called "principle of talion" appeared, proclaiming that punishment should be equal to crime. In the mass consciousness, this principle exists in the form of a common quote from the Old Testament: “... and if there is harm, then give a soul for a soul, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, burning for burning, bruising for an injury, Ex. 21.2325). In the book of Genesis, this is expressed more generally: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, said the Lord, his blood will be shed by the hand of man," which practically means the approval of the death penalty for homicide. True, many peoples also had the concept of “price of blood”, which meant that it was possible to pay for the murdered man not with his own life, but with a sum of money or its equivalent. The study of monuments of law, such as the laws of Hammurabi (17921750 BC), the Indian laws of Manu (200012000 BC), the laws of the Hittites (16001200 BC), the laws of Draco in Ancient Greece (621 BC), the laws of 12 tables in Ancient Rome (450 BC), confirms that in this period the range of crimes that provide for the death penalty as a punishment was quite extensive. It should be noted that the ancient legislator, considering the death penalty as a universal prevention for many types of crimes, sought to make it the most painful and frightening. These types of executions included, for example: hanging, wheeling, stoning, flaying, hanging by the rib, impalement, pouring red-hot lead or other metals into the throat, burning alive, welding water, oil or wine, tearing or cutting into small pieces, drowning , dropping from a tower from a hill into the sea or an abyss, crucifixion on a cross, giving to be eaten by wild animals, pulling out intestines, trampling by an elephant, burning a red-hot metal bull in the belly, etc. No less interesting is the fact that each specific locality or region was characterized by its own “special” type of death penalty. So, for example, for Greece were typical: stoning, drowning (Macedonia), decapitation (Massalia), throwing into a quarry (sometimes before the execution of the sentence, execution was carried out on the sentenced in Sparta and Syracuse), strangulation (Sparta), poisoning. Even in Athens, known for its democracy and culture, in the 7th century BC, for the purpose of intimidation, crucifixion was used for not free citizens. In ancient Rome, basically the same methods of executing the death penalty were used. For example, according to the Laws of the XII tables, arsonists were burned at the stake, later they began to execute defectors in this way. There were other ways: hanging, wheeling, drowning for parricides, throwing into the abyss and crucifixion (for crimes committed by slaves), decapitation, strangulation, prisoners of war were released into the arena to fight wild animals or made gladiators out of them. During the period of the Roman Empire, as a form of the death penalty, suicides were practiced in the presence of government officials. The time of the Ancient World was replaced by the era of the Middle Ages, which went down in world history as the heyday of the Inquisition. The value of the death penalty as a measure of "protection" of property, personal rights of citizens, state interests receded into the background under the pressure of religious dogmas. “Bishops and priests should try with all their might to eradicate completely from their parishes the pernicious art of divination and witchcraft invented by the devil, and if anyone, man or woman, is suspected of belonging to this kind of crime, let the bishops and priests drive them out of their parishes in the most shameful way, for the apostle said: “A heretic, after the first and second admonition, turn away, knowing that such a person has become corrupt and sins, being self-needed” (Epistle to Titus, ch. III, pp. 10, 11). Being corrupted, captivated by the devil and abandoned by the creator, they seek help from the devil, and therefore the church must be cleansed of such an infection.

this quote from the "Corpus of Canon Law" is given by Professor S. Lozinsky in the preface to the "fatal book of the Middle Ages"

Hammer of the Witches. It is interesting to note that the “cleansing”, which affected not witches and sorcerers, but heretics, took place “in accordance with the norms of criminal law, for example, as happened in 556, when a group of Manichaeans were executed in Ravenna.” The fact of active participation in the processes (on the part of accusers) of children clearly indicates the nature of the Inquisition. So, in 1692, during the trial of the Salem witches, eight-year-old Anna Putnam “set a kind of record by bringing forward 21 charges.” According to official figures, the Inquisition claimed the lives of more than 100 thousand people, however, since many procedural acts were lost, historians talk about 9 millions. It should be noted that the qualified types of the death penalty that came from the Ancient World and the Middle Ages were so cruel in their “execution” that they forced the convicts to ask the executioner for mercy, to save the last blow, were preserved, as A.F. Kistyakovsky in his "Study on the death penalty", up to the 17th century. Often, savage methods of execution, especially in emergency situations, were invented in consultation with "experienced and knowledgeable people." Such, for example, were the executions of Ravaillac in 1610 and Damien in 1757, which received historical fame due to their cruelty. Thus, initially the purpose of this type of punishment up to the 17th century, first of all, was to intimidate potential criminals, that is, the legislator used qualified types of the death penalty as a measure of general rather than private prevention. To this end, the death penalty was carried out not just publicly, but, if possible, in crowded squares, with a large crowd of people, or at the crossroads of major roads, where the corpses of the executed would be visible from a distance to those passing by. Moreover, the executions were attended not only by the mob, but also by representatives of high society. The very execution of the death penalty was not considered something shameful, not only in those times when the execution was a sacrifice, a religious rite, when it was performed by priests, high priests, kings, but also much later. In medieval Germany, executioners were often elevated to the rank of nobility, and in France the very title of their “maitre des hautes oeuvres” showed that they occupied an honorable position in society. for their death penalty. For example, at the beginning of the 19th century, England ranked first in the number of crimes punishable by death. According to William Blackstone, in his time, English laws knew up to 160 crimes subject to the death penalty, and according to others, even in the first quarter of the 19th century, their number reached 240, and on a par with state crimes, with such grave attacks on the person, as murder, rape, the same punishment was threatened by the law for threatening a letter, for mutilating animals, for cutting forests, for stealing from shops more than 5 shillings, theft in a church, at a fair for more than 1 shilling, stealing animals and so on. Further. However, starting from the 30s, the number of crimes punishable by death began to decrease significantly, and the statutes of Queen Victoria of 1837 and 1841 played a special role in this process, and after the consolidated statutes of 1861, this group began to include only: encroachment on the person of the queen and members of the reigning houses, violent riot, murder, malicious infliction of wounds resulting in death, sea robbery and arson of docks and arsenals. Moreover, when, after the autopsy of the bodies of hanged criminals, it was revealed that a person dies almost instantly from a fracture of the cervical vertebrae, and death from asphyxia occurs only after a few minutes and is more painful, in England, for humane reasons, gallows with a long fall began to be introduced, instead of the previously existing ones. "aggregates" with a short one. In France at the end of the 18th century, the death penalty was imposed in 119 cases. According to the code penal of 1810, it was appointed in 39 more cases, and even a qualified death penalty was retained for parricide. However, this number was significantly reduced by the reforms of 1832 and in particular 1848, which abolished the death penalty for political crimes, although even after these reforms, in the number of cases punishable by death, the French code for the first quarter of the 20th century occupied one of the first places, and the death penalty was not imposed. only for serious types of murder, but also for other crimes that ended in the death of the victim, or threatened with danger to life - imprisonment, torture, arson, explosions, and the like. In the monument of German law, the Caroline death penalty was provided for 44 types of criminal acts, almost the same number knew the Prussian Zemstvo law of 1794, and the German code of 1872 retained the death penalty in only two cases: with premeditated murder, and with an encroachment on the life of the emperor or the head of a separate state when the offense is committed by his subject or by a person in the territory of that state. According to military criminal laws, the number of cases of the death penalty was much higher. In Austria, the number of crimes punishable by a qualified death penalty (tearing the body with red-hot tongs, cutting straps from the back, cutting off breasts, and so on) was still quite high according to the code of Maria Theresa of 1768 . Under the successor of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, the death penalty was completely abolished in 1787, but in 1796 this institution was restored again. The Code of 1803 (amended in 1852) allowed the use of the death penalty in only five cases - riot, premeditated murder, robbery accompanied by murder, aggravated arson, and some generally dangerous cases of damage to railway structures. It should be noted that the legislative acts of the Scandinavian countries of that period were not as humane as they are now - for example, the Swedish code of 1864 threatened death in 23 cases. However, there is no doubt that with the development of human society as a whole, its moral principles, as well as its legal sphere existence, there is a humanization of the penitentiary system, and, consequently, the very institution of the death penalty is being transformed. So, for example, in the XIX century this type of punishment was not applied for many types of crimes against property, with the exception of only those that, in addition to property, also encroached on life and public safety. And from this period, the death penalty is carried out in one act, mainly by means of the guillotine, as the relatively quickest and most painful deprivation of life - that is, it is used mainly as a measure of private prevention. As for the countries in which the death penalty was completely abolished in the second half of the 19th century, there were only four of them: Romania (1864), Italy (1890), Holland (1870), Portugal (1867). Thus, in conclusion, the following conclusions can be drawn: firstly, the death penalty is one of the most ancient forms of punishment; secondly, initially the purpose of this type of punishment was general prevention; thirdly, with the development of the legal, and, consequently, the penitentiary system, the very institution of the death penalty is being transformed.

Links to sources1.Unknown Electronic resource: the database contains information related to various sciences. -Electron. Dan. (Adjusted daily). –M., 199. – Access mode: http://istina.rin.ru/ufo/text/188.html/. –Head. from the screen. 2. The Bible - the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (canonical, in Russian translation with parallel passages) -M. : Slovo, 2004.3. There. 4. Reader on the General History of State and Law. T. I. / Pod. ed. K.I. Batyr and E.V. Polikarpova. –M.: Jurist, 2002.5. Law Library Electronic resource: Legal Internet Encyclopedia. -Electron. Dan. (Adjusted daily). -M., 2006. - Access mode: http://www.pravoteka.ru/enc/5547.html/. –Head. from the screen. 6. Sprenger J. Hammer of Witches / J. Sprenger, G. Institoris – St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2006. 7. Summers M. History of witchcraft / Per. from English. A.M. Lotmentseva. M.: OLMAPRESS, 2002.8. History: truth and fiction / Ed. Yaroshenko N. -M .: Reader's Digest Publishing House, 2005.9. Witches / Ed. Golubovskoy M.V. –M. : Slovo, 1993. 10. Kistyakovsky, A.F. Research on the death penalty / A. F. Kistyakovsky. -Tula: Izdvo Autograph, 1999. 11. Tagantsev N.S. Criminal law (general part) Part 2. According to the edition of 1902 Electronic resource: Legal portal Allpravo.ru.–Elektron. Dan. (Adjusted daily). -M., 2003. - Access mode: http://www.allpravo.ru/library/doc101p0/instrum106/print997.html/. –Head. from the screen. 12. There. 13. There. 14. There. 15. There. T. I. / Pod. Ed. K.I. Batyr and E.V. Polikarpova. -M.: Jurist, 2002. P. 299.17. Tagantsev N.S. Criminal law (general part) Part 2. According to the edition of 1902 Electronic resource: Legal portal Allpravo.ru.–Elektron. Dan. (Adjusted daily). -M., 2003. - Access mode: http://www.allpravo.ru/library/doc101p0/instrum106/print997.html/. –Head. from the screen.

Andrew Tumanov, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, associate professor at the chair of criminal law and criminology Murmansk State Technical's University, Murmansk The history of the institution of the death penalty Abstract. Paper refers to the origin, the formation of the historic and the development of the institution of the death penalty, asitat present.Keywords:death penalty, justice, criminal liability, criminal penalties.

The concept, tasks and sources of the penitentiary law of the Russian Federation
- The concept and principles of penal law
- Principles for the execution of criminal penalties
- Tasks of penitentiary law and course system
Correlation between the norms of international law and the penitentiary law of Russia
- Generally recognized (basic) principles (standards) of international law in the penitentiary sphere
  - Main principles regarding convicted juveniles
  - General Principles for Convicted Women and Mothers
  - General Principles for Convicted Mentally Ill and Handicapped Persons
  - General Principles for Convicted Foreigners and Minorities
  - General principles regarding death row inmates
- International penitentiary law: patterns of development and general characteristics
- Implementation of the norms of international penitentiary law
- International penitentiary law and Russian penitentiary legislation
Institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties
- The system of institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties and their functions
  - The system of institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties and their functions - page 2
- Types of correctional institutions and their tasks
  - Types of correctional institutions and their tasks - page 2
- Control over the activities of institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties
  - Control over the activities of institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties - page 2
The legal status of persons serving a criminal sentence
- The concept of the legal status of convicts
- The content of the legal status of persons serving a criminal sentence
- The legal status of persons serving sentences associated with the isolation of the convict from society
- The legal status of convicts serving sentences in the course of military service
Regime as the main means of correcting those sentenced to deprivation of liberty, restriction of liberty and arrest
- The concept, content, functions and means of ensuring the regime
- The procedure and conditions for serving sentences in correctional colonies. Changing the regime and conditions of serving a sentence during the period of its execution
  - The procedure and conditions for serving sentences in correctional colonies. Changing the regime and conditions of serving a sentence during the period of its execution - page 2
  - The procedure and conditions for serving sentences in correctional colonies. Changing the regime and conditions of serving a sentence during the period of its execution - page 3
- The order of serving sentences in prisons
- Serving a sentence in educational colonies
- The procedure and conditions for the execution of punishment in the form of restriction of freedom
- The procedure and conditions for the execution of punishment in the form of arrest
Labor, educational work, material support and training in institutions of the penitentiary system
- Legal regulation of labor of convicts
  - The main provisions of attracting convicts to work
- Educational work in places of detention
- Education and training in correctional facilities
- Material support and medical care for convicts in places of deprivation of liberty
- Public participation in the activities of institutions and bodies executing punishment
  - Public participation in the activities of institutions and bodies executing punishment - page 2
Places of detention and their difference from places of deprivation of liberty
- Legal nature and types of places of detention
  - Grounds for application of detention
- Regime in places of detention
  - Regime in places of detention - page 2
- Guardhouse as a place of detention
Legal regulation of the execution of punishments not related to the isolation of the convict from society
- Execution of a fine
  - Execution of punishment in the form of a fine - page 2
- The procedure for the execution of punishment in the form of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities
  - The procedure for the execution of punishment in the form of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities - page 2
- The procedure and conditions for the execution of punishment in the form of compulsory work
  - The procedure and conditions for the execution of punishment in the form of compulsory work - page 2
- Execution of punishment in the form of correctional labor
  - Execution of punishment in the form of corrective labor - page 2
  - Execution of punishment in the form of correctional labor - page 3
Execution of criminal penalties against convicted servicemen
- General characteristics of punishments applied to convicted servicemen
- Execution of punishment in the form of restriction on military service
  - Execution of punishment in the form of restrictions on military service - page 2
- Execution of punishment in the form of arrest in relation to convicted servicemen
- Execution of punishment in the form of detention in a disciplinary military unit
  - Execution of punishment in the form of detention in a disciplinary military unit - page 2
  - Execution of punishment in the form of detention in a disciplinary military unit - page 3
- Execution of punishment in the form of deprivation of military rank
The problem of the death penalty in Russia
- The problem of retaining or abolishing the death penalty in Russia
- History of the death penalty in Russia
- The practice of imposing the death penalty
- Procedural safeguards in imposing the death penalty
- Pardoning those sentenced to death
Release from punishment. Consolidation of the results of corrective action
- Types of release from serving a sentence
  - Types of release from serving a sentence - page 2
  - Types of release from serving a sentence - page 3
- The procedure for preparing and considering issues on the early release of convicts from serving sentences
- The procedure for the release of convicts
  - Assistance to persons released from serving a sentence
Application of compulsory measures of a medical nature and compulsory measures of educational influence
- Grounds and objectives for the application of compulsory medical measures
- Types of compulsory medical measures
- Appointment, extension, modification and termination of compulsory medical measures
- Compulsory treatment combined with serving a sentence
- Application of a compulsory measure of educational influence to minors in the form of sending to a special educational and educational institution of a closed type
Provisions of the penitentiary law of foreign states
- The history of the formation and development of penitentiary relations in the world
- International legal aspects of the execution of criminal penalties
  - International legal aspects of the execution of criminal penalties - page 2
Historical aspects of the development of the system of execution of criminal penalties in Russia and the legislation governing its activities
- The prison system of autocratic Russia
  - The prison system of autocratic Russia - page 2
  - The prison system of autocratic Russia - page 3
- Places of detention of the Provisional Government
- Soviet corrective labor system of 1917-1930: the formation of the Soviet corrective labor system
  - Soviet corrective labor system 1917-1930: the formation of the Soviet corrective labor system - page 2
  - Soviet corrective labor system 1917-1930: the formation of the Soviet corrective labor system - page 3
- 30-50s: the system of labor camps, colonies and prisons
  - 30-50s: the system of labor camps, colonies and prisons - page 2
  - 30-50s: system of correctional labor camps, colonies and prisons - page 3
- 1960-1980s. Soviet corrective labor system
  - 1960-1980s. Soviet corrective labor system - page 2
  - 1960-1980s. Soviet corrective labor system - page 3

History of the death penalty in Russia

In Russia, the death penalty as a measure of punishment was mentioned in a number of ancient monuments, for example, in the Brief Russian Pravda (XI century). The annals preserved references to the execution of robbers. According to the instructions of Vladimir Monomakh, in the Dvina statutory charter of 1397, the death penalty was provided only for theft committed for the third time. It can be assumed that already at that time theft was the most recidivist crime, and committing it for the third time gave reason to fear a repetition of the deed in the future.

The Pskov Judicial Letter of 1467 provided for five cases of the death penalty, three of which were related to the theft of other people's property. The Council Code of 1649 took the path of further expanding the use of the death penalty.

An important source of instructions on the system of punishments and their execution was the Military Articles of 1715 - the first systematization of the criminal law norms of Russia made by Peter the Great with his direct participation. In this document, the death penalty was mentioned in more than 100 cases.

In practice, the death penalty in those years was used very widely. The number of those executed was measured in thousands, and later - in the period of Ivan the Terrible - in tens of thousands.

The use of the death penalty in the Russian Empire has declined markedly since the middle of the 18th century. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna declared that during her reign the death penalty would not be applied. However, she did not dare to cancel the application of this punishment and only suspended its execution.

Catherine II, who was influenced by Montesquieu and Becaria, in her Instruction (1767) called for limiting the use of the death penalty. Expressing considerations against the death penalty, Catherine II at the same time declared that "the death penalty is some kind of medicine for a sick society." The outwardly progressive ideas of Nakaz did not affect the legislation in any way. Not only was the death penalty not prohibited, but in a number of cases it was applied by special decrees (manifestos) of the Empress. The ideas of Nakaz did not prevent the execution of more than 20 thousand participants in the Pugachev uprising.

The use of the death penalty increased during the revolution of 1905-1906. Although according to different sources it was different, it was in the hundreds and thousands annually.

Meanwhile, in Russia, voices for the abolition of the death penalty were heard more and more insistently from the lips of a number of scientists and public figures. The draft of such a law was adopted on June 19, 1906 by the First State Duma, later by the Second State Duma, but in both cases the State Council did not approve it.

A new stage in the reform of the execution of sentences was outlined after the February bourgeois revolution of 1917. Using the former penitentiary system, the Provisional Government began to develop a new concept of the execution of punishment. Professor A.P., who headed the central prison department. Zhizhilenko, in an order dated March 8, 1917, emphasized that the main task of punishment is the re-education of a person who has committed a crime, and in order to achieve this task, it is necessary to show humanity to prisoners, respect their civil dignity.

On March 12, 1917, for the first time in the history of Russia, the Provisional Government abolished the death penalty, but already in July of the same year it was restored and allowed for use by military revolutionary courts for a number of military crimes, as well as for murder, rape, robbery and robbery ( over 20 offenses in total).

On September 28, 1917, the Provisional Government suspended the use of the death penalty "until further notice." But soon the October Revolution took place, which opened a new period in the history of Russia. The application of the punishment in question has increased dramatically. Executions were sanctioned by the court and carried out without trial.

Nevertheless, on October 26, 1917, the Decree of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets announced the abolition of the death penalty. However, already on February 21, 1918, the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "The Socialist Fatherland in Danger" allowed the use of execution, even without trial - on the spot and for a fairly wide range of acts - for the commission of crimes by enemy agents, speculators, rioters, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies. Such almost unlimited rights were granted to the Cheka, which did not fail to use them.

The use of the death penalty was indicated in the decision of the People's Commissariat of Justice of the RSFSR of June 16, 1918, which stated that the revolutionary tribunals were not bound by any restrictions in choosing measures to combat crimes. Sentences to death were also handed down by troikas or quintuples of extraordinary commissions on the basis of "revolutionary legal consciousness." They were not subject to appeal. The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of September 5, 1918 "On the Red Terror" fixed the use of the death penalty. The guiding principles of criminal law in 1919 pointed to the use of the death penalty in the form of shooting.

The second attempt to abolish the death penalty during the Soviet era was made on January 17, 1920 in the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On the abolition of the use of capital punishment (execution)". But after a few months, the punishment in question was reinstated.

Criminal codes of the RSFSR of 1922 and 1926 although they did not include the death penalty in the system of punishments, they provided for it in separate articles. In the sanctions of the Special Part of the Codes, it was presented very widely. At the same time, it is characteristic that if in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922 the death penalty was provided for in the sanctions of 7.6% of articles, then in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926 this percentage decreased to 3.4%.

It must be said that extrajudicial executions were widely used in the 1930s. This right was used by the Extraordinary Commission (Cheka) in the early years of Soviet power. But at that time the authorities justified this by the conditions of the civil war, foreign military intervention and other circumstances that were declared extraordinary. In the 1930s there was no longer a civil war.

Nevertheless, on November 5, 1934, by a decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, a Special Conference was created under the NKVD of the USSR. Formally, this body could apply exile, expulsion and imprisonment in a camp. However, in fact, the Special Conference formed on the ground "troika", "five", etc. thousands of people were sentenced to death without any trial, without consideration and evaluation of evidence of their guilt, and without even summoning the accused.

The third attempt to abandon the death penalty was made by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 26, 1947 "On the abolition of the death penalty", which abolished this measure of punishment in peacetime, proposing instead to apply imprisonment for a term of 25 years. Shortly thereafter, in 1949, the Soviet Union submitted a proposal to the UN General Assembly to abolish the death penalty in all states. However, at that time it was not supported.

The ban on the use of the death penalty was abolished in 1950, when the death penalty was allowed to be imposed on traitors to the Motherland, spies, saboteurs, subversives, and since 1954 - for premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances.

Portal for the student. Self-training

Secret breathing techniques and life-changing exercises. Mindful breathing technique from Oriental medicine

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Similar Documents

death penalty

History of the death penalty in Russia

Portal for the student. Self-training

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Similar Documents

death penalty

History of the death penalty in Russia

RELATED ARTICLES