The Right to Life and the Death Punishment as Its Derogation

Although in developed countries (many these countries) the existence of the death penalty is no longer questioned, nor is there a dilemma regarding this penalty in modern legislation, the reports of international organizations that monitor this phenomenon are worrying. According to the latest reports, in the year 2023, 1,153 death sentences were carried out in the world, which shows that even though the number of countries abolishing this punishment is increasing, the number of executed death sentences, accordingly, should be decreasing, but it is not. In addition, new methods of execution of the death penalty are being introduced, which shows that there is no intention to abolish it, although international acts require such an obligation. This was a signal to the authors of the paper to try to explain the concept of the death penalty and the issues related to it that arise in science, practice, religion, morality, and increasingly in society from a scientific and professional perspective. The main scientific goal of the work is to understand the reasons for the introduction, and still exist, of the death penalty in certain countries, as well as to find modalities of punishment that are an adequate substitute for the death penalty and to achieve fairness and proportionality in punishment. In the research, almost all basic methods of knowledge and research were applied, and statistical and comparative methods were used from the general scientific methods, while from the methods for data collection, only the method of content analysis of documents, laws and annual statistical reports of the Republic Institute of Statistics was used. Using the historical-comparative method, in the first part of the work, the authors dealt with the historical aspects of the origin of this punishment, its morphoses, as well as its disappearance from most legislation. After that, we carry out a detailed analysis of the application of the death penalty on the territory of Serbia, today’s Republic of Serbia, but also in the world. The work ends with the discovery of perspectives related to the death penalty, its abolition, but also its reintroduction in some countries or changing the methods by which it is carried out, which is widely debated in society today. This is exactly what explains the social goal of the work, which consists in proving the harmfulness/benefit of the executed death penalty on the increase/decrease of criminality in society and its moral, religious, medical and legal justification. The death penalty has its alternatives and can be very effectively replaced by some other punishments that would also justify the purpose of punishment. For example, the introduction of life imprisonment (with or without the possibility of parole or some other variation) is one of many alternatives to the death penalty. Although life imprisonment has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is not the most ideal, at least it has the possibility of “correcting a mistake” if a mistake occurs in the court proceedings, it is more humane and allows convicted persons to have at least some hope that one day they will be free again (life imprisonment with the possibility of parole) which is already a step forward in the development of humanity. If, even after all the arguments presented, there is doubt as to whether the death penalty should be included in the legislation or not, it is only necessary to answer the research question: has crime and illegal behavior been eradicated in countries that have the death penalty, and has its application had a good effect to reduce criminal activity? The answer is: No! Therefore, the conclusion is that the purpose for which the death penalty was introduced was not achieved.