19世纪英国公开处决制度的废除及其动因分析

Research on the Abolition and its Motivation of Public Executions in 19th Century in England

作为死刑的一种执行方式,公开处决制度有着悠久的历史,其发展演变与人类社会的发展进程有密切的联系。近现代以来,随着启蒙运动的发展和人道主义的兴起,公开处决制度的残忍性、不人道受到了广泛的质疑,其在英国社会造成的种种乱象也引起了统治阶层的警惕。综合权衡之下,公开处决制度在英国最终得到废除。从英国的废除进程来看,公开处决制度的废除是历史发展的必然,但其还需要结合特定的历史环境和契机才能最终实现。

Public execution has a long history, whose development has been closely connected with the development of human society. Since the modern age, along with the development of the Enlightenment and the rise of humanitarianism, the cruelty and inhumanity of public executions have been widely questioned. The chaos caused by public executions in the British society aroused the vigilance of the ruling class. On balance, public executions were finally abolished in England. Viewed with the British abolition process, the abolition of public executions is an inevitable historical development, but its final realization requires a combination of spe- cific historical environment and an opportunity.