Despite growing pressure for the death penalty's abolition, the year 2000 saw over 1000 people executed in China, some 123 in Saudi Arabia, 75 in Iran, and 85 in the United States of America (figures: Amnesty International). In this new edition of his classic study Roger Hood, the acknowledged world authority on death penalty legislation, assesses the global status of capital punishment at the start of the new millennium. As in previous editions, the author has drawn on his experiences as consultant to the United Nations for the Secretary General's five-yearly surveys of capital punishment as well as the latest literature from non-governmental organizations and academic experts. He shows that, despite a number of set-backs, the movement to abolish the death penalty has continued to gather pace; that international organizations and human rights treaties have increased the pressure on retentionist countries; that further developments have been made in securing protection for those facing the death penalty in retentionist counties; and that, despite such advances, in some parts of the world the range of crimes subject to the death penalty remains wide and the number of executions considerable. As before, Professor Hood engages in the latest debates on the realities of capital punishment, on claims that the death penalty is a unique deterrent to murder and other serious crime, and on the role of public opinion in the debate on capital punishment.