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REFLECTIONS ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF PUNISHMENT
Abstract
We consider many of the punishments from the antiquity as brutal and shocking, as we often forget that the humanist principle (humanitas) is relatively new in the history of mankind. There are 34 crimes that the Code of Hammurabi punishes with the death penalty, however death penalty is still in effect today, in some countries. Roman law has experienced a great variety of punishments such as: unequal combat versus a skilled warrior; scourging, poena cullei (the “sack punishment”); exile; branding on the forehead in some occasions; hanging; burying alive; crucifixion and so on. No matter how gruesome these forms of punishment, still more horrifying ones can be found in the Middle Ages. In the EU, as well as in the most of the civilized countries, the dead penalty was abolished. Torture is forbidden, according to the European Criminal Law, and the ECHR, in all cases. No exceptional circumstances can justify torture or inhumane treatment. However, there are recent discussions regarding the danger of terrorism, for example and according to some authors inhumane treatment and torture even might be necessary in truly exceptional circumstances. We consider that opinions such as these are threatening to destroy, all the principles and institutions that have contributed, in the building of the modern theories regarding the punishment
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