The abolition of capital punishment was a major priority of the incoming Labour government of Harold Wilson when it came to office on the 15th of October 1964 and its first Home Secretary, Sir Frank Soskice. On the 28th of October 1965, a Private Member’s Bill to suspend the death penalty, sponsored by the left wing MP, Mr. … Read more
Background.Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment and since ancient times it has been used for a wide variety of offences. The Bible prescribes death for murder and many other crimes including kidnapping and witchcraft. By 1500 in England, only major felonies carried the death penalty – treason, murder, larceny, burglary, rape, … Read more
What is crime?The answer is so obvious that we probably never stop to ask the question.In a Christian society, the Ten Commandments form the basis of most laws and breaking these is considered to be “evil” and therefore, wrong per se.Equally, there are many regulations introduced by the government designed to protect society and breaking … Read more
Human rights – “Nonsense on stilts” – Jeremy Bentham (a 19th century philosopher). What are human rights? We hear this term frequently nowadays as ever more rights are claimed by ever more single interest pressure groups. The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1949 (the full text can be read here). As you will see … Read more
With special thanks to Michael Stern for his help with this article. Some books convey the impression that large numbers of children were hanged for minor crimes such as theft during the 18th and 19th centuries, but the surviving records, e.g. the Ordinary’s Reports from Newgate, do not support this. However, the laws of the … Read more
