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1. Whether it is permissible in law to kill a person, either in the name of the state, or indeed of religion, ranks as one of the most fundamental and most disputed of ethical problems. As the heaviest and ultimate form of punishment, its implementation awaits the correct solution to the problem of what societal or political instance has the right of life and death. Historically, capital punishment developed out of crimes regulated by private, family, tribal, and sacral rights and their atonement, and was committed to a community of law as its apposite instan…