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capital punishment
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capital punishment

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Also known as: death penalty, execution
Written by
Roger Hood
Professor, Centre for Criminological Research, University of Oxford. Author of The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective and others.
Roger Hood
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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capital punishment, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law. The term death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution (even when it is upheld on appeal), because of the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment. What do...

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