Wrongful execution

Main article: Capital punishment

Capital punishment, or the "death penalty," is state-sanctioned killing used as punishment for crime or political retribution. Capital punishment is a contentious issue. Supporters of capital punishment argue that capital punishment deters crime and is appropriate retribution for capital crimes. Opponents of capital punishment argue that capital punishment does not deter crime more than life imprisonment, violates human rights, leads to "wrongful executions"[1] [2] [3] and discriminates against minorities and the poor.

Newly-available DNA evidence has allowed the exoneration of more than one person per year since 1992 [4] in the U.S., but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases.

In the UK reviews prompted by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have resulted in one pardon and three exonerations for people executed between 1950 and 1953 (when the execution rate in England and Wales averaged 17 per year), with compensation being paid. Timothy Evans was granted a posthumous free pardon in 1966. Mahmood Hussein Mattan, convicted in 1953, had his appeal quashed in 1998 and George Kelly, who was hanged at Liverpool in 1950 had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2003. Derek Bentley had his conviction quashed in 1998 with the appeal trial judge noting the original trial judge had denied the defendant "the fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen".