Shikei - En empirisk studie om dödsstraffet i Japan.

Sammanfattning: This thesis tries to clarify why Japan still uses the death penalty even though there have been radical norm changes throughout the 20th century. This essay, through using a comparative case study method, concludes there are three main reasons for why Japan still possesses the capital punishment, which are all connected to each other. First, Japan has not signed nor ratified the international treaties that forbid the death penalty, mainly the second optional protocol to the ICCPR. Secondly, there is a big support for the death penalty within the state. Generally, the support is big within all classes of society, from ‘ordinary’ citizens to politicians, lawyers and prosecutors. Thirdly, there is a vast secrecy around the death penalty in Japan. These three reasons are not isolated, but do in fact strengthen each other; as the secrecy surrounding the death penalty in Japan grows less people will find out about what is going on, which increases the support for the punishment. And as the support grows the authorities feel less obliged to enter different international treaties forbidding the death penalty, and as they aren’t a part of any treaties, they don’t feel the need to increase the transparency.