Why Capital Punishment Should Be Reinstated in Australia

Argumentative Essay on Capital Punishment in Australia Capital punishment is barbaric and inhumane and should not be re-introduced into Australia. Although capital punishment has been abolished, the debate on this topic has never abated. When a particularly heinous crime is committed, this debate arouses strong passions on both sides. Many who advocate the abolition of capital punishment consider the death penalty to be cruel and inhuman, while those who favor of punishment by death see it as a form of just retribution for the gravest of crimes.

In fact, implementing capital punishment is much more expensive than life imprisonment. In a government with capital punishment, both the trial and appeal process are much more expensive in comparison to noncapital cases as the trials are generally longer and more complex. Australian lawyers estimate that a single capital punishment case could cost taxpayers around $5.5 million while life imprisonment approximately costs $1.5 million.2 Saving money should not be an argument in retaining capital punishment. If Australia re-instated capital punishment, Federal and State taxes would need to be increased, all community services would be drastically cut, more hidden taxes would be introduced and finally all essential services and local government costs would also increase. This exemplifies how life imprisonment should be the only option for offences as it not only costs millions less, it also still ensures that the public is protected and the money saved could be spent on programs that actually improve the communities in which we live. This highlights how international jurisdictions for various reasons should, in majority of cases, follow Australia’s example and abolish capital punishment for murder and all crimes, however in some cases including repeat offenders such as Peter Dupas capital punishment could be a more effective punishment.

The death penalty also known as capital punishment “is a government sanctioned punishment whereby a person is put to death for a crime.” (Kronenwetter 2001) The death penalty has been and continues to be a topic of debate in Canada and America. In Canada it was formally abolished but in America the death penalty still stands in some states. First degree murder, treason, and espionage are some of the crimes punishable by death in the U.S. Many believe that capital punishment should be reinstated in Canada and others are against it. Although there is controversy about bringing capital punishment back the House of Commons will not allow it. This essay will examine this topic by examining the arguments in favour of the death penalty

A wise man once said, “If we believe that murder is wrong and not admissible in our society, then it has to be wrong for everyone, not just individuals but governments as well.” As most of us already know Andrew Chan and Myuran sukumaran were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8 kg of heroin form Indonesia to Australia. And then we might think, that the Australian government would prosecute these two Australian men. But no, they are sentenced to death in Indonesia. Thesis that is causing the most controversy is the fact that these two Australian men are being executed in a country they're not

The sporadic and numerous deaths of Aboriginal Australians whilst in custody, has been an issue of social and moral concern for both the Australian legal system and Australian communities. This predicament has been faced by the Australian legal system for decades until its summit in the late 1980s, were the death of an Aboriginal whilst incarceration was being reported every 11 days. The legal system had to instantaneously make a move that would remedy this issue before the situation got out of hand. Per contra, if it were not for both the legal, non-legal actions and responses, then this issue of Aboriginal Australians constantly dying whilst incarcerated would not have been brought to the attention of the wider Australian communities, nor

The liberal ideology is based in the values of individualism, in that the individual themselves is important in their pursuit and struggle for freedom. There are some factors that are common in liberalism, some of which include: liberty, formation of equality and dominance of individuals in bearing within their society. This essay will discuss these ideas of liberalism in relation to how they support the controversial issue of capital punishment. Capital punishment is the sentencing of someone who has committed a serious offence to death. Capital punishment was practiced in Australia since the British colonisation and formally abolished when it was last used in 1967. Only in 2010 did federal legislation prohibit capital punishment in all Australian states and territories. The attitudes towards capital punishment are multidimensional and complex, which makes determining the public’s opinion a complicated issue. There has been research that has found that an individual’s attitude towards capital punishment is reflective of one’s ideological self-image. There is worry that liberals could ground retributive justice in concrete, in that they could enforce more if that’s what they feel the public is looking for. Another issue for both the public and the government is that many people are ignorant on the factual issues that have to do with the death penalty, which can affect people’s opinions and therefore their actions on the

“Capital punishment has been an out-dated practice since the last hanging of Ronald Ryan in 1967, Ryan being the last of 114 people to be executed within Australia. The death penalty has been a part of Australia’s legal system since British settlements, also within the Aboriginal customary laws. Although throughout time crimes have plausibly stricken since the death penalty was applied to what was seen as “petty” crimes such as sheep stealing and burglary, resulting in 80 people hung each year throughout Australia. It was not until the commonwealth introduced the passage of the Death Penalty Abolition Act in 1973 where offences under the law of commonwealth and territories have not applied the death penalty for any transgressions provided in

The Herald Sun opinion piece persuades readers to think about the Bali Nine situation in a negative way. Whereas, the more formal piece from the ABC News wants the readers to make up their own opinion on the subject and voice it on social media via Twitter. Both news articles inform the target audience of the grim background of the Bali Nine and their issues with drug smuggling. Although, Mayfield’s article is balanced within the positives and negatives of the issue, journalist Elliot believes the situation is very black and white and denounces it in a very narrow minded manner. Elliot’s strong view stimulates debate on the issue of the death penalty for drug trafficking, Mayfield’s article has conveniently outlined the pros and cons of a clemency bid to his

Critiques have been published about this law; questioning whether it inflicts double punishment or even goes against Australia’s separation of powers doctrine (Keyzer, Patrick; Blay, Sam, 2006); however, it has been upheld as constitutionally valid by the court of appeal (Michelle Edgely , 2015) consequentially making this argument invalid. Calls for reform have been made in regards to this issue, however, it is evident that the way this system functions is in a just and equitable manner and does not go against the fundamental rules of law, nor does it go against the constitution or inflict double punishment as it is simply a punitive process set in place to protect the community (McSherry, Keyzer, & Freiberg, 2006). Reforming the current legislation is not a necessary process, this can also be supported by the fact that in 2006 Western Australian changed their legislation relating to dangerous prisoners to replicate the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 as it has proven to be just, fair and equitable (McSherry, Keyzer, & Freiberg,

The criminal justice system in Australia follows the classical model of crime control in which criminal acts must follow with subsequent punishment. Our policies around crime control are closely linked to the political agenda of the ruling government. In Australia the liberal government have been in power for the majority of the last 20 years, and have adopted a “tougher on crime” stance in their policy-making procedures. Research has however shown that this method does not provide justice to many of the disadvantaged groups in our community, and only further reproduces the social inequalities that these individuals face.

Based on the finding on death penalty, ending someone natural life is not the solution to decrease the murder rate. People should try to focus on rehabilitate these people as one does not kill another person because of passion some of them suffer mental illness and other are just blame of being blame because they are a certain race or religion or ethnicity and Australia has abolished the death penalty but for certain crime it should be abolish as some people doesn’t deserve to live after committing violent crime such as Ramazan Acar who killed his own daughter or even the other father who throw his kids off the bridge. These people are not remorseful of what they did and will never be these kind of vicious murderer should be punishing with

pounds per week and over a period of many years the total cost in some

Executing innocent people does bring a great concern and awareness. According to the table 13.3, the statistics are quite high in each state. This a statistic that make me reconsider, if this is really correct jeopardizing someone’s life, not knowing if the person is truly guilty, what integrity does our Criminal Justice have. The danger of an innocent people will be executed because of errors in the Justice System is getting worse. Texas has been called the nations “Death Penalty Capital”, in recent years with all the number of death penalties increase throughout the years. Texas is the home of more verified wrongful convictions that any other state. The power of our Criminal Justice System frightens me. In my opinion, there a sense

During my assessment I will be exploring some reasons why I do or do not think Capital Punishment should be re-instated. The definition of Capital Punishment is the death penalty, one can receive this by committing a Capital Offence. A Capital Offence is a horrific crime as implied by ‘Capital’ because a capital could link to the Leader of that country because Capital is usually used to refer to a place of importance. Some examples of Capital Offences are: Killing, Espionage, Treason, Homicide and Gang Members.

The law is put into place as a formal means of societal control, however it is not static and is constantly changing in regards to the social condition of current times. The universal declaration of human rights is an international document that states basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human beings are entitled (Commission, n.d.). As it is not a treaty, the declaration of human rights is not legally binding but rather used as an outline for UN nations to create just laws. Australia was one of the original nations working on the declaration in 1945 and has continued supporting the declaration to this date. The Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act of 2003 was passed as a means to increase the security of the community. Whilst the legislation does indeed increase the security of the community, it does so by unjustly violating the human rights of the offender. Recommendations can be made to protect the community whilst keeping a fair balance between the two stakeholders (the offender and the community).