Essay from the year 2001 in the subject Law - Philosophy, History and Sociology of Law, grade: 1, University of Hamburg, language: English, abstract: Nowadays, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the death penalty has been abolished in every Western European country. Only in the United States can each state still choose whether or not to implement capital punishment. As a result of rising crime rates, the pro-hanging lobby is growing stronger in modern Western society.Many people want the death penalty to be restored because they demand retribution, retaliation and vengeance for particularly offensive and nefarious crimes. However, the death penalty remains a capital offence against fundamental human rights. Thus, capital punishment can never be justified if one intends to maintain the basic principles of civilisation and promote respect for human rights.