Смертная казнь в России, Китае и США

СМЕРТНАЯ КАЗНЬ В РОССИИ, КИТАЕ И США

М. В. Железнов

Новосибирский Государственный Технический Университет, Новосибирск, Россия

maksimjin4@gmail.com

Аннотация: В данной статье обсуждается вид уголовного наказания, как смертная казнь в следующих странах: Россия, Китай, Соединенные Штаты Америки. Рассматривается история смертной казни со дня её возникновения и до настоящих времен. Также производится оценка мнений по-поводу вопроса применения смертной казни и как её применение влияет на уровень преступности в России, Китае и США.

Ключевые слова: смертная казнь; смертная казнь в России; смертная казнь в Китае; смертная казнь в США; мораторий на смертную казнь; уровень преступности; общественное мнение.

DEATH PENALTY IN RUSSIA, CHINA AND USA

M. V. ZHELEZNOV

Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia

maksimjin4@gmail.com

Abstract: This article discusses the death penalty as a type of punishment in the following countries: Russia, China, United States of America. Is considered the history of the death penalty from the first day to the present times. Analysing evaluation of opinions on that issue of using death penalty and how it depends on  crime level in Russia, China and USA.

Keywords: death penalty; capital punishment; death penalty in Russia; death penalty in China; death penalty in USA; moratorium on the death penalty; crime level; public opinion.

The death penalty, also known as capital punishment or execution, is the sentence of death imposed by courts as punishment for a crime. People who receive the death penalty typically are convicted of murder and similar capital crimes like aggravated murder or felony murder.

1. Russia.

On 4 April 1753, Russian Empress Elizabeth abolished the death penalty, which had been in effect throughout much of Russian history.

It’s believed that the death penalty was first used as a way of punishment in Russia in 1398. It was used against those who committed theft after two prior convictions.

By 1649, it was a common form of punishment. In the penal code of 1649, different ways of execution were described in detail. They were separated into two categories – “easy” and “qualified”.

Executions were mostly carried out in public in front of a huge crowd. Bodies were put on display to frighten people and deter similar crimes.

The death penalty was widely used during the rule of Tsar Peter the Great for 123 different crimes. However, the methods of execution were reduced to just three: firing squad, beheading and hanging. His daughter, Elizabeth, was the first Russian ruler to outlaw capital punishment. Instead, criminals were sentenced to hard labour.

Although capital punishment was reintroduced after her death, popular protests in the second half of the 18th century meant the use of capital punishment and torture was dramatically reduced.

After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the death penalty by shooting was used intensively for punishment, usually on political grounds. At present, Russia has a moratorium on capital punishment.

2. China.

During China's early dynasties, capital punishment was dominating among the five punishments. Under the Punishments of Lu (Lu Xing), written during the Warring States period (475-221 BCE), there were 200 offences, for which people can be sentenced.[9] The Tang Code (653 CE) listed 233 offenses, and the Song dynasty (960-1279) retained these and added sixty more. Under the Yuan dynasty, the "number of separate capital punishment provisions" precipitously dropped, reaching 125 crimes. The number of capital offences spiked again under the Ming dynasty (1268-1644), with 282 capital offenses, and the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), with more than 800 capital offences.[9]

The death penalty in the People's Republic of China more often than in any other country, although official statistics still do not report the exact number of executions (it is approximately 5000 per year). Currently, the death penalty is used as a punishment for a number of crimes (as of the beginning of 2016, for 46 crimes ). The overwhelming majority of executions used for drug trafficking on a large scale. The death penalty does not apply in Hong Kong and Macao, which are separate jurisdictions in accordance with the principle of “one country, two systems”. Article 49 of the Chinese Penal Code prohibits the death penalty for criminals who were less than 18 years old at the time of the commission of a crime . Also in the China, there is a practice of imposing a death sentence in some cases with a delay of 2 years. Most often, such a deferral means exemption from the death penalty, since, according to Article 50 of the Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China, if a convict does not commit a deliberate crime during this period, he can substitute the death sentence for life imprisonment (and imprisonment from 15 to 20 years).

3. USA.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United States, currently used by 30 states, the federal government, and the military and has a very long history.

The history of the death penalty in the USA may be traced back to colonial times in the 1600’s. In 1794 ,Pennsylvania, the first state to consider degrees of murder, repealed the Death Penalty for all offenses except first degree murder.

During the early part of the nineteenth century, the move to abolish the Death Penalty was seen in many states as a result of the “Jacksonian era,” which condemned the use of the gallows and proclaimed a more humane treatment of criminals. In 1834, Pennsylvania became the first state to move executions into correctional facilities and out of the public eye. Some states, such as Michigan, abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while others, i.e. Rhode Island and Wisconsin, abolished the death penalty for all crimes.  A great reform and victory for the death penalty abolitionists was seen when Tennessee in 1838, and later Alabama, enacted discretionary death penalty statutes: the circumstances of the crime were to be taken into consideration. Opposition of the death penalty dwindled during the Civil War due to the conflict between the North and South. It did not take long before new methods of execution were developed, i.e. the electric chair, New York (1888)