In reply to Papillon:
> Ok, article 3 of the human rights act for a start, that would be used as the equivalent is in the US. The legal profession would have a field day.
This article does n ot prohibit a member state from imposing the death penalty within it's own jurisdiction.
There may indeed be a field day as the legality is debated - however, as to an extent with the whole-life tariff cases, once the legal position has been established then it becomes availbale as a sentencing option.
> That is true, look at China, they don't mess about, and North Korea really cuts through the red tape apparently.
Reductio ad absurdam, though amusing, deosn't really take your argument forward.
> Getting back to sensible discussion, western democracies have all moved in a certain direction legally, to the point were most don't bother with the death penalty because it is more trouble than it is worth. Yes you can shut down further legal challenges at the point of law making but then the state becomes pretty draconian, and I suspect you know perfectly well that the UK has moved much further the other way since the abolition of the death penalty.
Sensible discussion, as in - the establishment of the death penalty would OF COURSE require the amenement/removal of legislation that abolishes it, whether that is within the UK or as part of Europe.
Your suggestion of a myriad of laws that have sprung up to complicate nmatters has so far produced one irrelevant one. Undoubtedly if we had the death penalty within the ECHR framework (in some form) there would be a challenge to it's legality, but the suggestion that every single case would naturally and necessarily be challenged all the way does not follow.
Bear in mind I'm speaking hypothetically here, I am fairly ambivalent about the death penalty, but in my view the only strong arguments against it's imposition are moral ones, and every time I am feeling more of an abolitionist than pro-capital punishment a case comes along like Anwar Rosser and reminds me why the death penalty might just be a good thing.
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/judgments/2014/sentencing-remarks-coulson...
(Warning - don't read the sentencing remarks if you don't want to read a farily detailed description of this horrific offence.)