Law, society, and capital punishment in Asia
| Published date | 01 April 2008 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1462474507087194 |
| Author | David T. Johnson,Franklin E. Zimring |
| Date | 01 April 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Law, society, and capital
punishment in Asia
FRANKLIN E. ZIMRING AND DAVID T. JOHNSON
University of California Berkeley, USA and University of Hawaii, USA
Abstract
Students of capital punishment need to study Asia, the site of at least 85 percent and
as many as 95 percent of the world’s executions. This article explores the varieties of
Asian capital punishment in two complementary ways. Cross-sectionally, the impression
of uniformity that comes from classifying 95 percent of the population of Asia as living
in executing states breaks down when closer attention is paid to the character of capital
punishment policy within retentionist nations. Temporally, the general trajectory of
capital punishment in the Asian region seems downward (though generalizations about
patterns in this part of the world are undermined by significant data problems). Asia is
also a useful territory for testing the generality of theories of capital punishment based
on European experience. Looking forward, Japan and South Korea, two developed
nations in Asia that still retain the death penalty, may indicate what other Asian nations
are likely to do as they develop. Ultimately, Asia either will become a major staging area
for world-wide abolition or the campaign against capital punishment will fail to achieve
global status.
Key Words
abolition • Asia • comparative criminology • death penalty • executions
INTRODUCTION
There are several reasons why students of capital punishment policy in the 21st century
need to study Asia. There is the size and political variety of Asia, a vast continent with
nearly 60 percent of the planet’s human population and a great variety of political
systems and policies toward capital punishment. Every death penalty policy to be found
on earth can be found in Asia, including some policies not found elsewhere. There is
the extraordinary pace of political, economic, and social change in Asia, including
changes in death penalty law and practice. From a law and society standpoint, the
nations of developed Asia are also as far removed from European culture and influence
as any group of moderately developed nations can be in 2008. Hence, this is an import-
ant place to test the limits of European human rights perspectives on non-neighboring
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PUNISHMENT
& SOCIETY
Copyright © SAGE Publications
Los Angel es, L ondon,
New Delhi and Singapore.
www.sagepublications.com
1462-4745; Vol 10(2): 103–115
DOI: 10.1177/1462474507087194
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