The purpose and aim of criminal law is to protect the public from harm. This is done by inflicting punishment to the delinquent who has already committed the crime, and by threatening with sentence to those who are enticed to harm the public. Over the centuries there have been various ways of penalizing criminals for their offences, one of the many being capital punishment. Killing offenders has been considered one of the most widely practiced forms of criminal punishment (ENC). There are various methods of completing the death penalty, the British courses of action consists of burning, beheading or hanging the victim. In the United States, capital punishment is legal in thirty-nine of the fifty states and its present processes of implementing the death penalty include: hanging, shooting (which is only used in Idaho and Utah), inoculation with lethal drugs (which was introduced by Oklahoma in 1977), lethal gas (which was first presented by Nevada in 1923), and electrocution (which was introduced by the New York State in 1890). Capital punishment continues to be an international debate viewed in two different perspectives; questions such as "is the death penalty considered vengeance or mercy?" or "is the death penalty effective in provoking less criminal acts opposed to long-term imprisonment?" are always argued. In 1976 the death penalty was removed from the criminal code in Canada because it went against different Sections in the Charter. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom was made to prevent harm towards the public and allow individuals to live a much safer and content life. Thus Section 12 of the Charter states, "everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment." Clearly, sentencing offenders to capital punishment does not go in accordance with this Section. Statistics show that the murder rate for keeping criminals incarcerated opposed to the d...