Confronting capital punishment in Asia : human rights, politics and public opinion / edited by Roger Hood and Surya Deva.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hood, Roger, 1936- editor.

Deva, Surya, editor.

Lipman Criminology Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capital punishment--Asia--Congresses.

Capital punishment.

Human rights--Asia--Congresses.

Human rights.

Asia.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xiv, 321 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Contents:

I Situating Asia in an International Human Rights Context

1 State Execution: Is Asia Different and Why? / Franklin E Zimring Zimring, Franklin E 13

1 Patterns of Death Penalty Policy in Asia 13

2 Explaining Asian Differences 16

Public opinion 19

Single nation parochialism 21

3 Two Modest Proposals 22

2 The Impact and Importance of International Human Rights Standards: Asia in World Perspective / Saul Lehrfreund Lehrfreund, Saul 23

1 Introduction 23

2 Does International Law Prohibit the Death Penalty? 24

3 The Development of International Norms and the Worldwide Trend Towards Abolition of the Death Penalty-A Dynamic Relationship 25

4 The Applicable International Human Rights Standards 29

Transparency and the need for data 29

The scope of the death penalty 30

Minimum fair trial guarantees 32

5 The Impact of International Human Rights Obligations on the Domestic Law-The Role of the Judiciary in Harmonizing Standards 37

The mandatory death penalty 38

Pardons and petitions of mercy 42

6 Concluding Remarks 45

3 Examining China's Responses to the Global Campaign Against the Death Penalty / Michelle Miao Miao, Michelle 46

1 Introduction 46

2 Chinese Discourse and Practices on the Death Penalty: Changes and Resistance 47

An overview of attitudinal, normative, and institutional transformations regarding capital punishment in China 48

Resistance to justifications for, and setbacks to, the capital punishment reforms in China 52

3 Evaluating the Impact of International Pressures on Chinese Capital Punishment Practices: Case Studies and Empirical Evidence 55

Banning the ritual of pre-execution shaming parades 55

The failed political intervention to save Akmal Shaikh from execution 59

Varying degrees of distrust among Chinese legal elites towards international human rights forces 64

4 Conclusion 66

4 The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Abolishing Capital Punishment: A Critical Evaluation / YSR Murthy Murthy, YSR 68

1 Introduction 68

2 Role, Relevance, and Significance of NHRIs 69

3 Positive Developments 71

4 Areas of Concern and the Scope for Greater Engagement 72

India 72

Maldives 76

Thailand 79

Afghanistan 80

Bangladesh 83

Indonesia 85

Malaysia 86

Sri Lanka 87

5 Conclusion 88

5 The Role of Abolitionist Nations in Stopping the Use of the Death Penalty in Asia: The Case of Australia / Sam Garkawe Garkawe, Sam 90

1 Introduction 90

2 Australia's Relationship with Asia 92

3 Australian Internal Laws and Policies and its International Stance on the Death Penalty 93

4 Australian Formal Laws and Policies in Relation to Cooperation with Asian Retentionist Nations in Criminal Matters 96

5 Informal Australian Policies: Australian-Asian Agency to Agency Cooperation when the Asian Agency is Located in a State that Maintains the Death Penalty 99

6 Conclusion 103

II The Progress So Far

6 Recent Reforms and Prospects in China / Liu Renwen Renwen, Liu 107

1 Introduction 107

2 Cautious Application of the Death Penalty by the Courts 108

3 Reducing Use of the Death Penalty Through Legislation 111

4 Further Reduced Use of the Death Penalty 114

5 Specific Systems for Reforming the Death Penalty 115

Prosecutorial supervision in reviewing capital sentences 115

Making the method of execution uniform 116

Separating the decision makers 117

Establishing a special amnesty and clemency system 118

6 Conclusion 122

7 Abolition of the Death Penalty in India: Legal, Constitutional, and Human Rights Dimensions / Amit Bindal Bindal, Amit, C Raj Kumar Kumar, C Raj 123

1 Introduction 123

2 Capital Punishment and the Constitution of India 125

3 The Dissenting Judgment of Justice Bhagwati in Bachan Singh 127

4 The Shifting Sands of the 'Rarest of Rare' Doctrine 128

5 Constitutional Validity of the 'Rarest of Rare' Doctrine 130

6 Judicial Process and Arbitrariness of the Supreme Court: Some Recent Trends 131

7 Situating Joseph Raz in the Death Penalty Debate 133

8 Abolition of Death Penalty in India: Contemporary Challenges 135

9 Emotions and Criminal Sentencing: An Analysis of Kasab's Case 137

10 By Way of Conclusion 140

8 Singapore's Death Penalty: The Beginning of the End? / Michael Hor Hor, Michael 141

1 After Amnesty 141

2 The Condemned, His Counsel, and the Court of Appeal 142

The power to re-open completed proceedings 143

The constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty 145

The reviewability of pardons 150

3 An Author, Contempt of Court, and Death Penalty Advocacy 154

4 Explaining the Numbers 159

5 The Beginning of the End? 163

9 Progress and Problems in Japanese Capital Punishment / David T Johnson Johnson, David T 168

1 Japanese Exceptionalism in Historical Perspective 168

2 Recent Reforms 170

3 Cautious About Capital Punishment? 172

4 The Dirty Dozen 175

5 Two Ways Law Can Fail 180

6 Japanese Futures 183

III Public Opinion and Death Penalty Reform

10 Capital Punishment Reform, Public Opinion, and Penal Elitism in the People's Republic of China / Borge Bakken Bakken, Borge 187

1 Current Legal Reforms and Chinese Death Penalty Practices 187

2 The False Explanation of the Chinese 'Culture of Death Penalty' 192

3 Public Opinion and the Death Penalty in China 195

4 Public Opinion, Evidence Procedures, and the Emerging 'Innocence Frame' 197

5 From 'Penal Populism' to 'Penal Elitism' 200

11 Challenging the Japanese Government's Approach to the Death Penalty / Mai Sato Sato, Mai 205

1 Introduction 205

2 An Endless Dialogue: 'It's Human Rights', 'No, It's Public Opinion' 205

3 Taking a Closer Look at the Japanese Government's Approach 207

4 The Source of Majority Public Support: The Japanese Government Survey 209

5 Questioning the Importance of the Death Penalty for the Japanese Public: Methodology and Findings 211

6 Conclusion 216

Appendix: Government Survey Results 217

IV The Politics of Capital Punishment in Practice

12 Suspending Death in Chinese Capital Cases: The Road to Reform / Susan Trevaskes Trevaskes, Susan 221

1 Introduction 221

2 The Three Supreme Criminal Justice Policies in China 223

3 The Two SPCs 226

4 Three Post-2007 Key Developments 229

2007 and the 'cash for clemency' controversy 230

Party and the SPC endorsement of balancing leniency and severity 231

The 'stability maintenance' craze of 2010-11 232

2011 and beyond 233

5 Conclusion 236

13 Death Penalty in the 'Rarest of Rare' Cases: A Critique of Judicial Choice-making / Surya Deva Deva, Surya 238

1 Introduction 238

2 From 'Special Reasons' to the 'Rarest of Rare' Cases 241

3 Judicial Choice-making: A Critique 245

Contentious reasons for imposing the death penalty 247

Dictating to the lower courts 248

Lack of adequate reasoning and/or analysis 248

Inconsistency and personal subjectivity vis-à-vis the Bachan Singh guidelines 249

Gender insensitivity 252

Inconsistency in resolving contentious social issues 254

Possibility of reform 255

4 Conclusion 256

Appendix: The List of Reviewed Decisions Delivered by the Indian Supreme Court between 1 January 2010 and 10 October 2011 257

14 $$Don't be Cruel...$$: The 'Death Row Phenomenon' and India's 'Delay' Jurisprudence / Bikramjeet Batra Batra, Bikramjeet 287

1 Introduction 287

2 The Death Row Phenomenon 288

A review of jurisprudence 289

Jurisprudence of the United Nations Human Rights Committee 291

3 Death Row and 'Delay Jurisprudence in India 297

Early development of the 'delay' factor 298

Triveniben and the constitutional position 301

Solitary confinement and conditions of detention 303

'Capital gridlock' and the current context 304

4 Conclusion-A March to the Gallows? 309.

Notes:

Outcome of a conference held on 4-5 November 2011 at City University of Hong Kong.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Lipman Criminology Library Fund.

ISBN:

0199685770

9780199685776

OCLC:

857524172

Publisher Number:

99957693332