Crime That Carry Death Sentence in Kenya
MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY
CRIMINAL LAW II
8TH JULY 2012
GROUP MEMBERS ADM
1. ANTHONY GACHERU DLAW/111/03297
2. DANIEL MUIRURI DLAW/111/02254
Disscuss
Crimes that carry the death sentences
Under Kenyan law, offences of murder, treason and robbery with violence, including attempted robbery with violence, carry a mandatory death sentence3. In this paper, the National Commission seeks to demonstrate the urgent need for the abolition of the death penalty from Kenya’s statutes. This is because the death, penalty is a violation of the fundamental right to life.
The death penalty
The death penalty entails the taking away of a person’s life after conviction on a capital offence by a competent court. This form of punishment has existed in almost all civilizations although the modes of its execution have varied from country to country. Common methods of execution that have been employed include crucifixion, drowning, stoning to death, burning or boiling alive, hanging and beheading, electrocution, shooting and use of lethal injection.
An early example of enforcement of the death penalty dates as far back as the 5th Century B.C. in Roman law. The first formal laws on the death penalty were, however, not established until the 18th Century. Britain through European settlers influenced the use of the death penalty in jurisdictions such as the United States and colonial Africa. Although in pre-colonial Africa the death penalty was also used as a form of punishment, it was reserved for the most serious offences. Its application, however, varied in time and space and depended on what a particular Community considered a serious offence punishable by death. There was no uniformity or rescribed method of determining which crimes were punishable Many people support the death penalty despite the fact that it is considered to be inhumane. It is said that the death penalty can be used as a deterrent to crime; however this has been proved untrue in many cases. “The death
CRIMINAL LAW II
8TH JULY 2012
GROUP MEMBERS ADM
1. ANTHONY GACHERU DLAW/111/03297
2. DANIEL MUIRURI DLAW/111/02254
Disscuss
Crimes that carry the death sentences
Under Kenyan law, offences of murder, treason and robbery with violence, including attempted robbery with violence, carry a mandatory death sentence3. In this paper, the National Commission seeks to demonstrate the urgent need for the abolition of the death penalty from Kenya’s statutes. This is because the death, penalty is a violation of the fundamental right to life.
The death penalty
The death penalty entails the taking away of a person’s life after conviction on a capital offence by a competent court. This form of punishment has existed in almost all civilizations although the modes of its execution have varied from country to country. Common methods of execution that have been employed include crucifixion, drowning, stoning to death, burning or boiling alive, hanging and beheading, electrocution, shooting and use of lethal injection.
An early example of enforcement of the death penalty dates as far back as the 5th Century B.C. in Roman law. The first formal laws on the death penalty were, however, not established until the 18th Century. Britain through European settlers influenced the use of the death penalty in jurisdictions such as the United States and colonial Africa. Although in pre-colonial Africa the death penalty was also used as a form of punishment, it was reserved for the most serious offences. Its application, however, varied in time and space and depended on what a particular Community considered a serious offence punishable by death. There was no uniformity or rescribed method of determining which crimes were punishable Many people support the death penalty despite the fact that it is considered to be inhumane. It is said that the death penalty can be used as a deterrent to crime; however this has been proved untrue in many cases. “The death
References: Criminal Procedure Code, CAP 75, Laws of Kenya Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Act, 2002 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981 Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984 3. Anderson D. (2004), The Death Penalty-A defence, http://web.telia.com/~u15509119/ny_sida_4.htm 4