The Absolute Capacity to be Killed and the Right to Life as Exemplified by the European Convention

The state remains the main arena of human existence and action. Woven from a dense network of political, economic, social and cultural connections, it dictates the conditions in which people are born, function and die. The decision whether individuals or their entire groups will live or die remains at the discretion of the arcana imperii. One of its manifestations is the use of the death penalty. The right to life, being the most important of the numerous catalogue of human rights, represents an institutional attempt to limit the powers of the state in this regard, an attempt which he has proven to be successful in the European space.