Capital Punishment in the United Kingdom Research Paper

Capital Punishment in the United Kingdom - Research Paper Example The elimination of the death penalty in all circumstances eventually took place in 1998. Similarly, the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights in 2004 outlawed the restoration of the death penalty, provided that the United Kingdom continued to be a party to the convention. History of Capital Punishment in the United Kingdom Hanging used to be the chief mode of execution in the United Kingdom since the 5th Century; other practices included drawing, quartering, beheading, burning at the stake, shooting, drowning, and hurling from cliffs. In 1196, the first person was hanged at Tyburn as a punishment for sedition. From 1351, the capital offences that attracted the death penalty included treason, witchcraft, murder, rape, piracy, robbery, arson, embezzlement of master properties, and theft (Davies 2007, p. 107). Efforts directed at the abolition of the death penalty had been ongoing since the late 1700s. In 1770, Sir William Meredith challenged parliament to consider pr oportionate punishments rather than capital punishments. Nevertheless, the proposal failed; however, it opened up the debate. Every year, there were over thousand death sentencing, although only a sizeable number of executions took place (Levinson 2002, p.155). In 1810, Sir Samuel Romilly remarked that United Kingdom had the most offences according to law to be punished by the death penalty. At its height, the criminal law, otherwise labeled as the â€Å"Bloody Code,† had categorized 220 crimes punishable by death. Sir Samuel Romilly attempted to convince parliament to de-capitalize minor offences, especially much of the Act of King William (Block & Hostettler 1997, p.109). Execution for crimes such as murder, robbery, and burglary were frequent; however, capital punishment for minor offenders were mainly not carried out. Nevertheless, in some instances, children could be executed for crimes such as stealing. A death sentence could be commuted on the grounds of benefit of cle rgy, official pardons, or execution of military duty (Stearman 2008, p.47). Statistics indicate that, between 1770 and 1830, close to 35,000 death sentences were handed out, out of which about 7,000 executions happened. At the time, prisons comprised of small, crowded, and badly run institutions, a situation that led to incorporation of punishments like transportation of offenders to distant lands such as America and Australia. During the 1830s, the masses had started to express doubts on the punishments (Block and Hostettler 1997, p. 110). Many more prisons were built while the old ones were extended to avail a fresh mode of punishment. The overriding notion centered on making prisons unpleasant places to stay in order to discourage people from committing crimes. Reform In Europe, reforms on the subject of the death penalty, championed by academics, started around 1750. Year 1808 witnessed abolishment of capital punishment for pickpockets and lesser offenders. This set the onset fo r the reform process perpetuated over the next fifty years. Nevertheless, capital punishment remained operational even though the government occasionally commuted the death penalty. The Judgment of Death Act 1823 awarded power to judges to commute the death penalty excluding cases of treason and murder (Levinson 2002, p.156). The Punishment of Death Act 1

Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Industry - Essay Example Smarthand is a company that manufactures smart hand products that are mainly for university professors who engage in teaching practices in large lecture rooms. The product manufactured by the company is a multifunctional remote controlling glove that is bundled with a computer software. The software functions in such a way that it allows the person using it to give instructions using touch screen by the use of hand gestures and commands using figures. The smart hand product has a lot of promise to its users. The product promises the users to make controls to the screen of the computer at a far distance with the use of a Wi-Fi environment. Unlike other means of computer operating equipment such as clicker or mouse, the smart hand product offers several instructions that are customized in a more convenient manner. In summary, it can be said that smart hand product takes a total control of the university lecturer class in his or her palm. The company’s mission statement is to enable users to control computer and give customized instructions in the palm of the hand. SmartHand LCC will strive to accomplish the mission by focusing on four main objectives: provide users better experience in manipulating virtual space, improving convenience of use, developing new software features based on customization, and changing the way of teaching in a smart classroom. The product idea is based on designs from students from School of Information Studies and further improved by the management team at SmartHand LLC. The inventors designed the intelligence glove in order to develop a technology to manipulate objects in a virtual space. After consideration of the executive team from SmartHand LLC, the features of the glove is decided to focus more on educational use so that the product can be bundled with other teaching station technology to improve professors teaching experience. SmartHand is a multi-functional intelligence glove that allows using figure commands and hand gestures