New from Northwestern University, and in partnership with
the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, comes a database with current
information relating to the application of death penalty laws from around the
world. This database is intended to supplement the Hands Off Cain database, and
the reports by Amnesty International. The new database focuses on providing
detailed information on the application of death penalty law and practice.
As with use of any new database, a quick review of the FAQ
will tell the user what kind of
information can be found, and what will not
be found (cases and news feeds), as well as information on how to search
the database, the currentness of the information, and a short discussion of the
“viewpoint” presented on capital punishment . The database itself can be
searched in a variety of ways: by Country, Region, or Method of Execution. One
may also search by topic under the heading “International Legal Issues” where
one finds issues such as: Access to Courts, Arbitrariness and the Death
Penalty, Death Row Conditions, Foreign Nationals, Innocence and Wrongful Convictions,
Mental Illness, Moratoria, and Women. Finally the Resources section provides
link to Death Penalty Organizations, articles and books, further electronic
research, and Guidelines for International Legal Research.
The Country search provides a wealth of information
including the methods of execution, the
status of the laws, a discussion of and citations to the relevant laws, as well
as a general profile of the country.
The homepage provides an interesting “Country of the Day”
feature. On June 20, 2012, the country was Iran and the following was seen:
Iraq
Death Penalty Law
Status
Retentionist
Method(s) of Execution
Hanging
Shooting
Year of Last Known
Execution
2011
There is also a blog on the homepage.
For those who would like to use the library’s print
collection, you can search using the term “death penalty,” but don’t forget to
also use the term “capital punishment.” The library has an extensive selection
of books on this important topic, as well as providing direct online access to
the Death Penalty Information Center.
Written by Joan Policastri, Foreign, Comparative & International Law Librarian
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