Death Penalty Jurisprudence: A Comparative Analysis Of Developed And Developing Countries
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 13, 2025
- 1 min read
Akshaya S, Tamilnadu Dr Ambedkar Law University, School of Excellence in Law
ABSTRACT
The jurisprudence of capital punishment remains one of the most contested questions in modern constitutional thought, oscillating between the moral legitimacy of the State to take life and the evolving standards of decency that inform contemporary human rights discourse. This article undertakes a comparative examination of the death penalty in five historically and geopolitically distinct jurisdictions—United Kingdom, France, United States, India, and Russia—each representing a different stance: complete abolition, constitutional abolition, active retention, judicially restricted retention, and moratorium-based retention. The study critically evaluates how historical developments, constitutional frameworks, judicial interpretation, and political culture shape the legitimacy and future of capital punishment. The article situates domestic constitutional positions within the broader framework of international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Second Optional Protocol, and the European regional prohibition model. The selected jurisdictions are studied chronologically to demonstrate the transformation from execution as sovereign power to abolition as constitutional identity, identifying how colonial legal inheritance, religious morality, and authoritarian political structures continue to influence national death penalty outcomes. The empirical data covering the period 1960–2025 reveal that deterrence claims remain unsupported by statistical evidence, while risks of wrongful execution and discriminatory application persist, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups. The article argues that the death penalty’s future will be shaped less by empirical deterrence outcomes and more by international human rights pressures, domestic political narratives, constitutional morality, and public sentiment.
Keywords: Death Penalty, India, UK, USA, France, Russia.
