ABSTRACT
Dangerous as predictions can be in the social and political sphere, is it now reasonable to conclude that so much progress has been made towards the desirable goal first set more than 40 years ago by the United Nations in 1971 of ‘abolishing capital punishment in all countries’ that it will be achieved within the foreseeable future? Or should we again be concerned that the movement has achieved as much as it can and faces such strong opposition from several powerful countries that it is unlikely, if ever, to reach this goal?
