EN
Existing research data are not able to give a convincing proof that the death penalty deters people from committing crimes more efficiently than other punishments. However, in many countries, including European Union countries, the restoration of this strictest kind of penalty is under discussion. In 1966 there was passed the International Pakt on Civil and Political Rights, which included the right of every human being to the “nherent right to live”. As a consequence of that, in many countries the death penalty for the most serious crimes has been abolished. To 1998, in 167 countries the death penalty was ablished and 14 other anounce this verdict it only for war crimes. In 24 countries executions ceased to take place in practice (de facto amnesty) – despite the existence of capital punishment in domestic legislation. Currently, death sentences are used in over 60 countries worldwide. Within European countries the death penalty is carried out only in Belarus. In Czechoslovakia, the death penalty was abolished in 1990. The article presents the “way” of the legislation of the death penalty applicable in the Czech Republic and in the territory of Slovakia. Author cites various stages of evolution of sanctions in the form of capital punishment in the legislation of Czechoslovakia since 1950 to the current interpretation of the prohibition of the death penalty in the Penal Code in the Republic of Slovakia. As a conclusion, after the presentation of arguments “pro” and “contra”, the author declares the death penalty as unacceptable.