PENALTY

Of the 53 members of the Commonwealth, 35 still have the death penalty
on their statute books, and some (five in 2013) conduct executions.
The Privy Council’s jurisprudence has played a role in the demise of
the mandatory death penalty in the Commonwealth Caribbean, but
its legitimacy as standard bearer for the constitutional principles of the
Commonwealth could be challenged. 31
CONCLUSION
It is time for the world community to close the chapter on the death
penalty, not only because of its effects on those directly and indirectly
involved, but also because it distracts attention from the other
human rights challenges that lie ahead. The international community
has placed violence reduction on the post-2015 development agenda.
If this leads to evidence-based evaluations of the drivers of violence
and best mechanisms for its reduction, then it seems likely that the
anachronistic nature of the death penalty will become increasingly
clear. Ending the death penalty could serve as an inspiration about
the possibility of the greater realisation of the right to life in general.
culturally, sensitive. They are forums in which individual member
states often feel more prominently represented. European and American
human rights mechanisms have shown how emerging regional
consensus (in advance of global consensus) can be employed to
achieve traction for regional agreements or standards on the issue of
the death penalty. Efforts along similar lines are under way in the African
Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations. These efforts are encouraging for those
working more broadly on the right to life, and should be supported.
Public calls for a moratorium from high-profile figures—ranging
from the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the High
Commissioner for Human Rights—speak to an emerging consensus
that the practice of executions is no longer beyond the scope of
human rights mechanisms. International law makes clear the desirability
of abolition but leaves states to determine the best manner
in which to achieve it. In the 50 years since the pronouncement of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, some 160
countries have abolished the death penalty either in law or practice.
While waiting for the remaining states to find the appropriate vehicle
for abolition, it is important that international actors, including
regional organisations, continue to insist that, when the death penalty
is imposed, it is within the very narrow scope allowed by law.
Regional organisations can also act as important forums for discussion
of trends toward abolition that are more regionally, and perhaps
31 For a critical appraisal, see Quincy Whitaker, “Challenging the death penalty in the Caribbean:
litigation at the Privy Council”, in Against the Death Penalty: International Initiatives and Implications,
Jon Yorke, ed. (Farnham, UK, Ashgate, 2008), pp. 101-124.
226 227