Associate Professor at the University of Ghana’s School of Law, Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, says the death penalty should have no place in Ghana’s statutes book in the 21^st century.

He said his argument against the death penalty is firmly rooted on human rights grounds and the relationship between human rights and criminal law.

He argued that persons put on death row also deserve the right to life and the right to dignity despite their crimes.

This, he said, does not negate or diminish the right to life and dignity of the victim of said crime; rather it gives the criminal the opportunity to reform and redeem themselves.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Law concerning arguments being made against the proposed repeal of the death penalty, Professor Appiagyei-Atua noted that so far all arguments against the abolishment of the death penalty have been based on religion and cultural practices.

“But I think that the argument that those two opposed to the law are making is one based on religious grounds, as I glean through the debate, and probably on cultural grounds as well. In any case, the position that the Christian religion supports an eye for an eye is not true. That is in the Old Testament and was under Jewish law."

“The Christian principle supports the principle of compassion and magnanimity, and it doesn’t mean that the person who has died his/her life is not important but it is because the person who has committed the offence has the opportunity to amend his or her ways,” he said.

He has urged MPs to “properly apprise themselves of the arguments for and against. And I think if we’re very objective, we look at the statistics it will clearly tell us that this is not the way to go in the 21^st century.”