The capital punishment controversy in Hungary: fragments on the issues of deterrent effect and wrongful convictions

Abstract

Although the death penalty has been abolished in the majority of the European countries by now (it is only applied in Belarus, while Russia can be considered a so-called de facto abolitionist state, where this sanction exists in theory, but no execution has taken place in the last fifteen years and, according to the current situation, will not take place anymore), the debates concerning capital punishment keep arising. In many European countries leading politicians argue or have recently argued in favour of reinstatement of the death penalty.

The debate related to capital punishment keeps arising in Hungary as well, especially after brutal murders. Various politicians stated that, according to their personal opinion, the reinstatement of the death penalty would be expedient or proper, or that it should not have been abolished in the first place. The present paper deals with this contemporary discussion, with special regard to the issues of deterrent effect and wrongful convictions.