Capital Punishment: Belgium and Saudi Arabia

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Introduction
The severest punishment that can be used by a state, is Capital punishment; also known as the death penalty. It is the process of execution for an individual by a state as a punishment for a certain crime committed, and the impose of death penalty differs according to different categories of criminal offenses within the legal system and the criminal laws of a country. Throughout the history, capital punishment have been used to act as a deterrent for committing similar crimes, and have been used by all countries for the high rate of crimes and criminals within the country. Belgium, with a civil legal system followed by the penal law, was one of the last Western European countries to officially abolish this capital punishment in 1996. However, death penalty is still inflicted in over fifty countries worldwide ("Death Penalty."), and with the highest execution rate per capita(Crimi, Frank.), Saudi Arabia with the legal system based on the Islamic law, is one of the countries that still practice this use of death penalty. In addition, capital punishment is treated/dealt similarly and differently between Belgium and Saudi Arabia, due to the influence on religious beliefs, abolition of death penalty, distinguishments between criminal acts in each law of the two countries, and the process of execution.

Compare (Similarities)
The view on capital punishment differs in both Belgium and Saudi Arabia. However, there are similarities according to the category of criminal offense in both countries. In Belgium, the Belgian penal law distinguishes three categories of criminal offense into Contraventions, Misdemeanors, and Felonies (Aebi, Marcelo F.,). Like Belgium, Saudi Arabia also distinguishes three categories of the criminal ...

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