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Capital punishment, death penalty or execution is punishment by death. The sentence is referred to as a death sentence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term ''capital'' originates from the Latin ''capitalis'', literally "regarding the head" (referring to execution by beheading). Capital punishment has, in the past, been practiced by most societies, as a punishment for criminals, and political or religious dissidents. Historically, the carrying out of the death sentence was often accompanied by torture, and executions were most often public.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Readings – History Of The Death Penalty | The Execution | FRONTLINE )〕 Thirty-six countries actively practice capital punishment, 103 countries have completely abolished it ''de jure'' for all crimes, 6 have abolished it for ordinary crimes only (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 50 have abolished it ''de facto'' (have not used it for at least ten years and/or are under moratorium). Nearly all countries in the world prohibit the execution of individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes; since 2009, only Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Pakistan have carried out such executions. Executions of this kind are prohibited under international law.〔 Capital punishment is a matter of active controversy in various countries and states, and positions can vary within a single political ideology or cultural region. In the European Union member states, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union )〕 The Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, also prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=117 countries vote for a global moratorium on executions )〕 non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions, with a view to eventual abolition. Although many nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India, the United States and Indonesia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Coalition mondiale contre la peine de mort – Indonesian activists face upward death penalty trend – Asia – Pacific – Actualités )〕〔(AG Brown says he'll follow law on death penalty ) 〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=A new Texas? Ohio's death penalty examined – Campus )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=THE DEATH PENALTY IN JAPAN-FIDH – Human Rights for All / Les Droits de l'Homme pour Tous )〕 ==History== Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. In most countries that practice capital punishment it is reserved for murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, incest and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy in Islamic nations (the formal renunciation of the state religion). In many countries that use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment and execution. Usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice.〔So common was the practice of compensation that the word ''murder'' is derived from the French word ''mordre'' (bite) a reference to the heavy compensation one must pay for causing an unjust death. The "bite" one had to pay was used as a term for the crime itself: "Mordre wol out; that se we day by day." – Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400), The Canterbury Tales, ''The Nun's Priest's Tale,'' l. 4242 (1387–1400), repr. In ''The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer'', ed. Alfred W. Pollard, et al. (1898).〕 The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included an aformal apology, compensation or blood feuds. A blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished."〔Translated from Waldmann, ''op.cit.'', p. 147.〕 However, in practice, it is often difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Severe historical penalties include breaking wheel, boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, disembowelment, crucifixion, impalement, crushing (including crushing by elephant), stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment, sawing, decapitation, scaphism, necklacing or blowing from a gun. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capital punishment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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