The Global Decline of the Mandatory Death Penalty Constitutional Jurisprudence and Legislative Reform in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean

Historically the death penalty was mandatory for the crime of murder and other violent felonies, in accordance with English common law. Over the last three decades many former British colonies have reformed their capital punishment regimes to permit judicial sentencing discretion, including consideration of mitigating factors. Applying a comparative analysis to the law of capital punishment, this book examines the constitutional jurisprudence and resulting legislative reform in the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, focusing on the rapid retreat of the mandatory death penalty in the Commonwealth over the last thirty years.