The prohibition of death penalty in international law. What cruel and unusual qualities mean in the US Constitution.

Abstract

This thesis aims at discussing the issue of death penalty as a violation of human rights and it will provide an in-depth analysis of one particular state case such as the United States of America. In particular, the study aims at understanding whether international and regional legal instruments - that prohibit or limit the implementation - play an active role in addressing the compliance of human rights law. Considering the continuous application of death penalty in some states of USA, the thesis will investigate whether international and regional legislations are actually effective, which are the paradoxical aspects of the implementation of death penalty in the USA, why death penalty is not considered unconstitutional following the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment and whether we could really consider it a proportionate punishment..