Capital Punishment In Canada

ARTHUR ELLIS

Arthur Ellis was the Pseudonym of '''Arthur B. English''', a British man who became Canada 's official Hangman in 1913 .

All of his successors also adopted the pseudonym Arthur Ellis in their professional duties. The Crime Writers Of Canada present annual literary awards – the Arthur Ellis Awards – named for this pseudonym.

HISTORY

In 1961 , legislation was introduced to reclassify murder into capital and non-capital offences. A capital murder involved a planned or deliberate murder, murder during violent crimes, or the murder of a Police Officer or prison guard. Only capital murder carried the sentence of death. In 1967 , a Moratorium was placed on use of the death penalty, except for Murder s of police and corrections officers. On 14 July 1976 , bill C-84 was passed by a narrow margin in a Free Vote , resulting in the abolition of the death penalty, except for certain offences under the National Defence Act. In 1987 , the House Of Commons held another free vote, but MPs favoured maintaining abolition of the death penalty (148 to 127). In 1998 , Parliament removed the death penalty for National Defence crimes.

REASONS FOR BANNING THE DEATH PENALTY

Canada banned the death penalty because of fears about Wrongful Conviction s, concerns about the state taking the lives of individuals, and uncertainty about the death penalty's role as a deterrent for crime.

LAST PEOPLE EXECUTED IN CANADA

The last two people executed in Canada were Ronald Turpin, 29, and Arthur Lucas, 54, convicted in separate murders, at 12:02 am on 11 December 1962 at the Don Jail in Toronto . Like previous offenders they were executed by the "long drop" technique of Hanging developed in the United Kingdom by William Marwood . This method ensured that the prisoner's neck was broken instantly at the end of the drop, resulting in the prisoner dying of Asphyxia while unconscious, which was considered more humane than the slow death by Strangulation which often resulted from the previous "short drop" method. The short drop sometimes gave a period of torture before death finally took place.

The last woman to be hanged in Canada was Marguerite Pitre on January 9 1953 , for her role in the Albert Guay Affair .

PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER

First-degree murder now carries a mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. Second-degree murder results in a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 or more years. The " Dangerous Offender " provision can allow an indefinite sentence without any parole eligibility. This has been applied to a number of murderers in Canada.

CANADA'S VIEW OF INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

The Supreme Court Of Canada , in the case '' United States V. Burns '', ( 2001 ), has determined that Canada should not extradite condemned persons, unless they have assurances that the foreign state will not apply the death penalty. This is similar to the extradition policies of other nations such as France and Israel , which also refuse to extradite prisoners whom may be condemned to death.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Canada and the Death Penalty (Department of Justice Canada)

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Capital Punishment In Canada