Ⅰ. Guaranteeing the Fundamental Human Freedoms: 1. Right to Life and Personal Liberty
death row were found innocent and released through appeals, etc. from 1973 to
Aug. 31, 2018, and according to a report by the National Academy of Science in
2014, approximately 4% of the people on death row are innocent.
Of course, some assert that a possibility of misjudgment exists in all criminal
procedures and can be minimized by the advancement of science and improving
the legal procedures, and therefore, should not negate the entire system of the
death penalty.
C) The Need to Consider the Abolition of the Death Penalty and the
Introduction of Alternative Punishments
The survey by the NHRCK in 2018 showed the large number of people believing
that the ‘death penalty should be maintained but execution or sentencing should
be done carefully (59.8%)’ and the ‘death penalty must be maintained and/or
strengthened (19.9%).’ However, when asked about the abolition of the death
penalty premised on introducing proper alternative punishments, 66.9% agreed
with the abolition of the death penalty. This shows that a consensus on the abolition
of the death penalty can be formed by introducing alternative punishments.
The National Assembly continuously proposed the ‘Special Act on the Abolition
of the Death Penalty’ since the 15th session and suggested imprisonment with labor
for life (15th and 16th sessions) and absolute life imprisonment (17th~21th sessions)
as alternative punishments for the death penalty. However, the Constitutional
Court, in its decision to uphold the death penalty in 2010, stated that the absolute
life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, where the prisoners are
detained until their natural death, is punishment similar to that of the death penalty
and is not free from criticism that the prisoners’ connection to the community is
permanently severed,
The NHRCK stated on Apr. 6, 2005 that, along with the abolition of the death
penalty, life imprisonment without the possibility of a reduced sentence or parole,
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