On The Absence And Reality Of Abolishing Death Penalty

As an ancient punishment, death sentence is located in the top position of the penalty Pyramid and occupied an important position in the history of the punishment. The death penalty is the deprivation of human life, and the dead cannot be resurrected, therefore the death penalty is the most severe and cruel punishment made to our own kind. What is the ground the death penalty based on? Who gave the executioner the power of depriving people’s life? Today, considering fairness, necessity and humanity, if the death penalty still has a reason to exist, and indispensable? These problems prompted us to constantly reflect on the value and significance of the use of death penalty. Furthermore, we can make clear judgment and understanding on whether the death penalty should be abolished and how to abolish the death penalty.The theory circle commonly believes that the death penalty originated from primitive revenge habits, experienced the development process from start-up to glory, and then decline. Along with this process, the productivity of human society continuously improved, and humanitarian spirits has been widely spread. The death penalty is not exist without reason and will not disappear without rhyme. Figuring the development track of the death penalty, we can find out the theoretical and practical factors which have the influence upon the death penalty’s evolution, which is the necessary factor that Chinese institutions need to consider facing the abolition of death penalty.From the theoretical level, this paper take the origin of punishment as a starting point, demonstrating the point of view that the death penalty is not a right through the contract theory, but a ‘war’ between the state and citizens who had breached the contract. It is only suitable when it was implemented in the conditions of ‘must be’ and ‘good’. Then from the angle of general prevention and special prevention, from the crime multiple causes theory, from the people’s attitude on death and from the humanitarian point of view, demonstrate that the death penalty is injustice, not necessary and not humanitarian, came to the argument that the death penalty should be abolished.From the practical level, China is a large death penalty country, which has always been influenced by a heavy punishment tradition, the abolition of the death penalty should not be accomplished at one stroke. The author promotes stage measures to abolish death penalty mainly from the improvement of the social-economic level, expanding the scope of the death penalty free sentence, expanding the application of death sentence with a reprieve and actively leading the public will, in order to combine theory with practice, make a good effect in practice, reduce the resistance of the final abolition of the death penalty, to achieve the goal of abolishing death penalty.