ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights some of the effects the death penalty can have on the families of the condemned, adding to the limited research that exists on this issue. It focuses on the day-to-day contact the condemned's families have with their loved ones on death row. The chapter discusses many aspects worthy of evaluation from the court process which successfully isolates the defendants' family, to the execution, where the focus is on the process and providing, albeit inadequate, support for the victims' family witnesses. It highlights most of the existing literature on the death penalty focuses on its operation in the USA; however, where possible, the procedures in other countries. The chapter discusses specific country examples is based on information received by the authors from personal contacts. The death penalty is permissible under international and regional human rights law as an exception to the right to life, although most of these instruments impose limitations on its operation.
