AN OVERVIEW OF DEATH PENALTY POLICY IN BANGLADESH: A CALL FOR REFORM IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL PROSCRIPTIONS

Abstract

– Punishment seems a key instrument for preventing a certain wrongdoing or illegal action. The death sentence has a long history of serving as a dignified first step, as well as an effective deterrent and crime-prevention measure. The modern criminal justice system seeks to reform the offender rather than exacting harsh punishment. Along with the claim that the death penalty violates an individual’s right to life, there is a protracted discussion about the actual efficacy of the death sentence in preventing and deterring crime. A large number of non-fatal and economic crimes, as well as many other offences, have Bangladesh as the retentionist nation. The study makes an effort to investigate Bangladesh’s policy toward the death sentence in contemporary times, when there is a global trend to curtail its use with a view to its eventual abolition. The scholarship has acknowledged that the Constitution and other ordinary laws both have the mandatory death penalty. The study demonstrates that the State’s policymakers heavily rely on the death penalty to reduce crime, even occasionally new offences that convey the death penalty have been added to the law since the country became a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The study’s final goal is to find ways to lessen the death penalty; therefore, it displays numerous models that could work as viable approaches for policymakers to consider.