Legal responses and sentencing in murder cases

A comparison of law and judicial reactions in India and Germany

authored by: Paromita Chattoraj, Bernd Dieter Meier
Abstract: While there are huge cultural, social and socio-legal differences between India and Germany, the sentencing laws of the two countries show a couple of similarities. In India and Germany alike, the substantive law makes only little specifications for the sentencing process. There are no sub-statutory sentencing guidelines, within the range provided by the penal codes the courts have a wide discretion in the sentencing process. It is, however, interesting to see that the courts exercise their discretion in similar ways which can specifically be observed in murder cases. The article describes the legal framework which is applicable in murder cases in India and Germany and compares the judicial decisions in selected cases: hold-up murder, sexually motivated murder, domestic violence killings and honor killings. The comparison gives evidence of the communicative function of punishment. After a serious crime like murder the public – typically well informed by the media, agitated and highly troubled – will in both countries only be settled by a judgment considered as fair, just and proportionate. Peace under the law and internal security, however, do not seem to be dependent on specific forms of punishment. Capital punishment and life imprisonment appear as penalties which may be necessary reactions to murder in a given cultural context, but which are not indispensable to a criminal justice system.
Organisation(s): Chair in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Criminology
External Organisation(s): Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar
Type: Article
Journal: Criminal Law Forum
Volume: 29
Pages: 121-155
No. of pages: 35
ISSN: 1046-8374
Publication date: 03.2018
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Law
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 5 - Gender Equality, SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-017-9326-7 (Access: Closed)