SOUTH KOREA: RELIGIOUS GROUPS CALL FOR ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

July 19, 2022:

Catholic Church in South Korea joined other religious groups to call for the abolition of the death penalty terming it unconstitutional and ineffective in curbing criminal offenses in the country.
Korean Bishops’ Justice and Peace Committee made the appeal as the nation’s Constitutional Court holds the third hearing to debate whether the existing moratorium on the death penalty should be upheld or overturned in the East Asian nation.
The committee had joined in a petition filed by a person who is accused of killing his parents in February 2019. The prosecution had demanded the death penalty, but the court sentenced the convicted person to life imprisonment, reported Dong-A Ilbo.
The petitioners have appealed to the judges for the need to see the dignity and value of life in punishments meted out by the judicial system.
"Life is an absolute value which cannot be taken away through a legal judgment," the petitioners said, defending their stance on the abolition of capital punishment. "As society has changed in the past 12 years, we expect a proper conclusion this time."
South Korea’s Justice Department has pushed for maintaining the status-quo on the matter based on the two previous judgments from the apex court in 1996 and 2010.
“The abolition of the death penalty is a matter that must be passed through legislation,” the department has argued.
In two earlier hearings, the top court had ruled in favor of the death penalty in 1996 and 2010, with judges voting 7-2 and 5-4 respectively. For the death penalty to be termed unconstitutional 6 out of 9 votes must be in favor of abolishing the practice.