The Hangman's Knot For Drug Crime. Singapore's Death Penalty in a Modern Society (PDF)

Magisterarbeit aus dem Jahr 2014 im Fachbereich Jura - Öffentliches Recht / Staatsrecht / Grundrechte, Griffith College Dublin, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Western abhorrence of the death penalty is not something novel. Although the death penalty as a punishment was applied by all countries until recent years, during the nineteenth and early twentieth century it was abolished in a number of states.

Amnesty International, has described Singapore as the world's hanging capital. Singapore an authoritarian state practices capital punishment and has the highest execution per capita. Singapore issues the mandatory death penalty predominantly for
the offence of drug trafficking among others. By imposing the mandatory death penalty, discretion is taken away from the judiciary. Discretionary powers taken away from judges, precludes them from looking into the extenuating and particular circumstances of the individual cases. For these reasons, there is a need to examine legislation prescribing such a sanction which automatically takes away an individual's life. Notably, one may wonder whether such a draconian punishment in a contemporary
society violates the fundamental right of an individual.

The primary reason for the imposition of the mandatory death penalty is deterrence and incapacitation. Retentionist states assert the much famous deterrence argument to justify
capital punishment. One would question, whether this is a heinous crime to render such a draconian punishment. Does it violate human rights standards? Does this barbaric
punishment deter crimes? Is the deterrence argument substantial enough to take away human life?

Due to all these factors, this thesis will critically evaluate the deterrence argument pronounced by most retentionist states in order to analyse whether such a justification in reality deters crime. Next, a critical evaluation of the legislation prescribing such a harsh sanction will be analysed. Finally, drawing from human rights standards, this research will examine the reasons behind the trend towards capital punishment. This research will give new light to the issue of capital punishment as to whether capital punishment is an effective sanction in the legal system. The ultimate aim of this research is to evaluate whether capital punishment for drug crimes is a legitimate sanction advocated by retentionist states.