syberpriend
Active Member
Muslim application of criminal law has often been described as Medieval Draconian
laws. The application of capital punishment has been banned by the UN and the ECC.
1. Punishment in Western penology served three functions: i) Retribution (justification looking to the past i.e. punishment, revenge); ii) Deterrence (justification looking to the future i.e. prevention); and iii)Reformation
2. In The Report of the Departmental Committee on Corporal Punishment in England,1938, the committees unanimous opinion was that corporal punishment was of no value as a deterrent and should be abolished. In 1952, in the USA, Justice Hugo Black wro te: Retribution is no longer the dominant objective of criminal law.
Reformation and rehabilitation of offenders have become important goals of criminal jurisprudence. In 1972, Justice Thurgoo d Marshall wro te: Punishment for the sake of retribution is no t permissible under the Eighth Amendment. In the same year, Californias capital-punishment law was declared unconstitutional.6 For some criminologists refo rmatio n has become synonymous with cure. The criminal is no longer a bad man but a sick man.7 A convict needs treatment. He is genuinely ill, perhaps physically, almost certainly mentally, and psychiatrically.
3. The Abolition of the Death Penalty Act of 1965 cancelled capital punishment for murder. The Home Secretary announced on 22nd April 1970 that 172 convicted murderers had been released from prison since 1960, most of them having only served nine years or less of their statutory life sentence. Only five served 12 o r more years, nine served 6 or less and one completed only 6 months.8 These are not cases of mistaken ruling which was corrected. These were convicted murderers being let out on the public due to their good behavior in prison. Many of them killed again, only to be sentenced for a few more years.
4. Western penologists have admitted that the penal system has failed utterly in
reforming and rehabilitating criminals. Petty criminals enter the system and exit as
well trained hardened criminals. Society ends up paying for the crimes committed
against it by being obliged to provide food, clothing and shelter for criminals.
5. In the Islaamic system, punishments are placed in three categories: i) Hudood :
Punishments prescribed by God in a revealed text of the Quraan or Sunnah, the
application o f which is the right of God (Haqq Allaah). 6 offenses: drinking alcohol;theft; armed robbery; illicit sex [homosexual, pedophilia, bestiality]; sexual slander;and apostasy. In a penal context, the punishment is (a) prescribed in the public interest; (b) cannot be lightened or made heavier; and (c) after being reported to the judge it cannotbe pardoned by either the judge, political authority, or the victim [Quraan, (2): 229]. ii) Qisaas: Retaliation. Punishment prescribed in Islaamic law for murder and injury wherein an injury of equal severity is inflicted. iii) Taµzeer :Discretionary.
is an expression of the communitys disapproval of crime, and if this retribution is not given recognition then the disapproval may also disappear...9 The element of retribution vengeance, if you will does not make punishment cruel and unusual, it makes punishment intelligible.Leo Page wrote: Law exists for the protection of the community. It is not necessary to show that capital punishment is an absolute preventative of murder, or even that it is the only deterrent. If it can be shown that it is more effective as a deterrent than any other punishment, then I shall be satisfied that it should be retained. To hold otherwise is surely to forget the innocent victims of murder in the interest of their murderers. And I have no doubt at all that fear of the gallows is the most powerful of all deterrents.10
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laws. The application of capital punishment has been banned by the UN and the ECC.
1. Punishment in Western penology served three functions: i) Retribution (justification looking to the past i.e. punishment, revenge); ii) Deterrence (justification looking to the future i.e. prevention); and iii)Reformation
2. In The Report of the Departmental Committee on Corporal Punishment in England,1938, the committees unanimous opinion was that corporal punishment was of no value as a deterrent and should be abolished. In 1952, in the USA, Justice Hugo Black wro te: Retribution is no longer the dominant objective of criminal law.
Reformation and rehabilitation of offenders have become important goals of criminal jurisprudence. In 1972, Justice Thurgoo d Marshall wro te: Punishment for the sake of retribution is no t permissible under the Eighth Amendment. In the same year, Californias capital-punishment law was declared unconstitutional.6 For some criminologists refo rmatio n has become synonymous with cure. The criminal is no longer a bad man but a sick man.7 A convict needs treatment. He is genuinely ill, perhaps physically, almost certainly mentally, and psychiatrically.
3. The Abolition of the Death Penalty Act of 1965 cancelled capital punishment for murder. The Home Secretary announced on 22nd April 1970 that 172 convicted murderers had been released from prison since 1960, most of them having only served nine years or less of their statutory life sentence. Only five served 12 o r more years, nine served 6 or less and one completed only 6 months.8 These are not cases of mistaken ruling which was corrected. These were convicted murderers being let out on the public due to their good behavior in prison. Many of them killed again, only to be sentenced for a few more years.
4. Western penologists have admitted that the penal system has failed utterly in
reforming and rehabilitating criminals. Petty criminals enter the system and exit as
well trained hardened criminals. Society ends up paying for the crimes committed
against it by being obliged to provide food, clothing and shelter for criminals.
5. In the Islaamic system, punishments are placed in three categories: i) Hudood :
Punishments prescribed by God in a revealed text of the Quraan or Sunnah, the
application o f which is the right of God (Haqq Allaah). 6 offenses: drinking alcohol;theft; armed robbery; illicit sex [homosexual, pedophilia, bestiality]; sexual slander;and apostasy. In a penal context, the punishment is (a) prescribed in the public interest; (b) cannot be lightened or made heavier; and (c) after being reported to the judge it cannotbe pardoned by either the judge, political authority, or the victim [Quraan, (2): 229]. ii) Qisaas: Retaliation. Punishment prescribed in Islaamic law for murder and injury wherein an injury of equal severity is inflicted. iii) Taµzeer :Discretionary.
is an expression of the communitys disapproval of crime, and if this retribution is not given recognition then the disapproval may also disappear...9 The element of retribution vengeance, if you will does not make punishment cruel and unusual, it makes punishment intelligible.Leo Page wrote: Law exists for the protection of the community. It is not necessary to show that capital punishment is an absolute preventative of murder, or even that it is the only deterrent. If it can be shown that it is more effective as a deterrent than any other punishment, then I shall be satisfied that it should be retained. To hold otherwise is surely to forget the innocent victims of murder in the interest of their murderers. And I have no doubt at all that fear of the gallows is the most powerful of all deterrents.10
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