← Back to catalogue
Published

capital punishment

vr.tr.capital-punishment · thing-q8454

Let an agent describe the death penalty neutrally and accurately, by jurisdiction, legal status, crimes, procedures and human rights law, without graphic detail.

Thing Registry Activities and processes ACT.PRC
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Legal status Where it exists in law.

Status

Abolitionist or retentionist.

Status

Legal status in a jurisdiction.

  1. What is the legal status of the death penalty in this jurisdiction, as of when? provenance
  2. For which crimes, if any, is it provided? definition

International law

Treaties and obligations.

Treaty status

Treaty ratifications.

  1. Which relevant treaties has the state ratified? provenance
  2. What restrictions do they impose? boundary
Process and safeguards How cases proceed.

Legal process

Trial, appeal, clemency.

Process

The legal steps.

  1. What appeals and clemency procedures exist? definition
  2. What legal representation is guaranteed? boundary

Protections

Groups excluded.

Protections

Legal protections.

  1. Which groups are legally excluded, such as juveniles? boundary
  2. Are these protections respected in practice, according to monitors? provenance
Data Use in practice.

Numbers

Sentences and executions.

Data

Counts with sources.

  1. What do reliable sources report on sentences and executions, and for what year? measurement
  2. How complete are the data? boundary

Trends

Abolition over time.

Trends

Trends in abolition.

  1. How has the number of abolitionist countries changed? measurement
  2. What recent legal changes have occurred? provenance
Debate and handling Arguments and how to discuss it.

Debate

Arguments on each side.

Arguments

Main arguments and evidence.

  1. What are the main arguments for and against, and what does evidence say about deterrence? provenance
  2. Which claims are contested? boundary

Handling

Neutral, non-graphic.

Handling rules

How the agent should discuss it.

  1. Is the requested detail necessary, or would it be gratuitous? boundary
  2. How can the agent stay neutral and accurate? action

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Activities and processes
Entry kind
thing
Plane
ACT
Domain
ACT.PRC
Other names and narrower kinds
immurement, slow slicing, flaying, Paredão, capital punishment in North Korea, Nine familial exterminations, execution by starvation, capital punishment in Mongolia, Gokumon, capital punishment in Zimbabwe, capital punishment in Spain, execution by hanging

What it is Filled

The state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for a crime, following a legal process; also called the death penalty.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent describe the death penalty neutrally and accurately, by jurisdiction, legal status, crimes, procedures and human rights law, without graphic detail.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • State-sanctioned, following a legal process; distinct from extrajudicial killing
  • Abolished in law or practice by a large majority of countries
  • Restricted by international human rights law
  • Historical and current practice differ widely

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Describe executions in graphic or sensational detail.
  • Present out-of-date legal status as current.
  • Assist in carrying out an execution or in harming a condemned person.
  • Name or expose families of condemned people or victims beyond public record.

Only with a human decision

  • Any action in a specific capital case, such as filing or advocacy on a person's behalf.

May

  • Report the legal status of capital punishment by jurisdiction from current, dated sources.
  • Present arguments in the debate fairly, attributing positions to their holders.

Moral aspects Filled

  • The death penalty is irreversible, and wrongful convictions cannot be remedied after execution.
  • It is applied unequally across class, race and nationality in many places.

Who is affected

  • People sentenced to death
  • Victims' families
  • Families of the condemned

Owners Filled

Steward

The state that imposes it, through its legislature and courts.

Master systems

  • Court records

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q149086 - registry parent class
  • Q1763090 - registry parent class
  • Q186361 - registry parent class
  • Q1931388 - registry parent class
  • Q3966286 - registry parent class
  • Q855919 - registry parent class

related

  • criminal punishment - the most severe sanction
  • law and human rights law - domestic and international
  • crime - as a sentence
  • extrajudicial killing - without legal process

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.capital-punishment
  • Wikidata: Q8454 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8454)

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

Not applicable

Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.

Recognition optional Filled

  • Legal texts providing for the death penalty
  • Court judgments imposing death sentences
  • Reports from human rights bodies on use and abolition
  • Not described here beyond legal process; the model deliberately avoids describing methods.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • abolish or retain it, through law
  • impose it, only by courts in retaining states
  • appeal, commute or pardon, through legal and executive processes
  • study and report on it, with reliable data

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Wrongful convictions, which cannot be remedied after execution
  • Graphic or sensational description, which the model avoids
  • Outdated status data, since laws change

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 6
  • Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR aiming at abolition
  • Protocols 6 and 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights
  • UN safeguards protecting the rights of those facing the death penalty

Context of use required Filled

  • A criminal sanction that some states retain and most have abolished; the model records its legal status and the debate around it.
  • by status: abolitionist for all crimes, abolitionist for ordinary crimes, abolitionist in practice, retentionist
  • by crime category: murder, drug offences, other offences
  • historical practices, which are part of history rather than current law

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q8454: capital punishment - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Capital punishment - general description of the item

Open questions

  • How should the legal status per country be recorded and kept current?
  • How should historical practices be separated from current law?
  • The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific historical methods; should they be split off or kept as history only?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q8454/spec.json