Capital Punishment - 5th August 2011

Sir George Young, the Leader of the House of Commons has announced that electronic petitions, which secure in excess of 100,000 signatures, will be debated in Parliament. Although I am in favour of the measure, I am not without reservations. Part of the role of representative democracy is to exercise a restraining -even civilising- influence. Nothing is so terrifying as the psychology of the mob.

Let that be however. I understand that the early front runner for such a debate is a motion to restore the death penalty. My principal fear is that this will infuriate the public by raising their expectations only then to dash them. My estimate is that there is no prospect whatsover of the Commons -as currently constiuted-voting for restoration. That would require a truly enormous Tory majority -sufficient to overcome all other parties as well as the significant number of doubters within Tory ranks.

Even were a vote for restoration to be carried, it would not have the slightest effect. My recollection is that the last time we voted on this issue, it was a clause in a bill -introduced by the last government- to implement the provisions of a European treaty: so, we are required by international treaty obligation not to permit any execution. Undoing this obligation would require not just a majority in the Commons, but unanimity amongst all the other treaty signatories -or our unilateral abrogation of international law. About as much chance as a snowflake in hell.

On the substance of the issue, I will vote for restoration. We signal our lack of respect for human life by our refusal to sanction the ultimate penalty for those who unlawfully take away that human life. This glaring omission at the heart of our system of justice spreads a disrespect throughout the edifice: if we do not take murder and other brutal crimes seriously enough then it follows that we do not take any crime seriously enough. Can we therefore be surprised at the disappointment,even contempt, in which many of our people hold our criminal justice system.

This strikes me as sufficiently powerful reason to vote to restore the death penalty, as to overcome my many powerful reservations: It would be more difficult to secure convictions from juries who would shrink from the finality of the outcome;
There is something macabre and grotesque about actual detail of the procedure which fascinates the worst part of our nature -which we should rightly revile;
Every execution would be the occasion of public demonstrations by the articulate and significant minority opposed to restoration. Whilst there is a majority of the public in favour of restoration, it is not a consensus;
There is something deeply repugnant about those nations which make extensive use of the death penalty -i think principally of Iran- do we really want to be considered as being in the same boat?

These are strong reservations but I will vote for restoration notwishstanding. I want to make a point. The current penalty for the most dreadful crimes (not just murder but also sexual violence- particularly against children) is completely inadequate.

My enthusiasm for restoration of capital punishment might be assuaged if imprisonment for life actually meant that - particularly if it were accompanied by restoration of the punishment of 'penal servitude with hard labour'. I have just returned from a couple of weeks in Rwanda which, within this generation, saw one million of its people brutally hacked to death in only 100 days. This staggering statistic implies a huge number of murderers. Now however, Rwanda is a haven of stability and safety with virtually no crime despite having no death penalty -but you cannot miss the sight of the perpertrators of the genocide, in their bright pink uniforms, doing hard and heavy labour at the roadside. As Mr Punch would say
"That's the way to do it".