In a death sentence or death penalty, a person is legally sentenced to death by the state for particular crimes. Many countries with death penalty laws still actively carry out executions for both violent and non-violent crimes. Capital punishment has been abolished in many countries worldwide, but some countries have stringent approaches to its application. In these countries, various crimes are punishable by death, and executions are being carried out more frequently than anywhere else in the world. In the article below, we have listed five countries that employ the death penalty regularly. These death sentence countries are known for their strict enforcement and high execution rates.

1. China

The punishment of death in China is the most widely interfaced one anywhere in the world, international legal practice so states. Because the highest secrecy is afforded to this information by the state, official figures of executions are unavailable. Holds forth are from court documents, media reportage, and human rights organizations.

Key Facts:
The death penalty can be applied for over 40 crimes, including murder, drug trafficking, large-scale fraud, bribery, and arson. Some prominent cases have also seen non-violent crimes, such as corruption and theft of valuable artifacts, being sentenced to death.

The trial may be conducted away from the public eye, with the judiciary generally moving fast through the process. In serious cases, the execution may be carried out barely weeks after sentencing.

Execution Method:
Executions are carried out either by lethal injection or by shooting.

Things to Know:
A few death sentences are given a special two-year suspension in China, whereby if the person behaves during that period, the sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment. All death sentences require review by the Supreme People's Court. Although much has been done to improve the system, calls for more transparency and fairness in the application of the death penalty persist from local NGOs and the international community.

2. Iran

Execution rates seen in Iran are among the highest in the world each year. While official statistics are not always declared, reports from international quarters show that hundreds of people are put to death every year.

Crimes Punishable by Death:
Crimes punishable with the death penalty include murder, drug trafficking, rape, and armed robbery. The insanities are punishable also with death for adultery, and 'homosexual acts'.

Legal Process:
Trials were often not public in the capital cases, and sometimes confessions had been extorted under duress. From the onset, Human Rights groups have been asserting concerns regarding the fairness of such trials and the availability of proper legal representation for the accused.

Execution Methods:
Hanging is the most frequent method, making it a known form of punishment by hanging in the country. Until a few years ago, some executions were carried out publicly.

Special Concerns:
Iran has put to death individuals who were minors at the time of the commission of the alleged crime. This is of concern to international human rights bodies.

3. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia must have one of the highest execution rates in the world. It follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, and Islamic law death penalty sentences have been meted out for a wide range of offenses. Though rare today, reports in past decades suggest that execution by stoning has occasionally been used in some Islamic law death penalty cases.

Death Penalty Crimes:
First, let us get through the serious ones: murder, terrorism, armed robbery, and rape. Then the lesser crimes: drug trafficking, sorcery, apostasy, and adultery.

Legal Concerns and Process:
Trials may not always be held with full transparency. At times, defendants may be denied proper legal representation. There have been possibilities of forced confessions, and sometimes there is no option to appeal, according to Human Rights Watch.

Methods of Execution:
Beheading by the sword is probably the most common method, sometimes conducted in public. Firing squads may sometimes be called into use.

A Few Recent Developments:
Thus, Saudi Arabia has made some reforms to reduce the number of executions for those under eighteen and non-violent criminals, although many still call for further reforms in Saudi law.

4. North Korea

North Korea maintains a strict and secretive justice system, with the death penalty meted out under a wide range of capital offenses. Owing to the limited access and control over information by the government, precise details remain almost impossible to confirm with certainty.

Crimes Punishable by Death:
Capital punishment is meted out for crimes such as murder, treason, terrorism, and drug trafficking. However, it could also be imposed for such things as viewing foreign media, attempting to leave the country, or insulting the leadership.

Trial Process:
Trials are generally lacking in transparency in North Korea, and they are often held in secret. Some accounts suggest that executions may be carried out without due legal process or any form of defense.

Methods of Execution:
The most usual methods of execution were firing squad or hanging. There were also occasional reports of public executions for atrocities that politically-sensitive matters.

International in Particular:
There remain serious concerns raised by the international human rights associations about fairness, access to justice, and the death penalty in North Korea. Public executions and harsh punishments like beheading or being shot without a fair trial are considered by many human rights groups as among the worst execution methods.

5. Egypt

In the Egyptian legal system, capital punishment is reserved for serious offenses. For civilians, hanging is the usual method of execution, while military personnel convicted of a capital crime in the line of duty are shot.

Crimes Punishable by Death:
One could be put to death for murder, terrorism, and the like on a fairly large scale. There have been cases involving mass trials, where numerous people were tried at once. There are claims that political activists and protesters have been sentenced to death.

Review Process:
The country's highest authority, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, is responsible for reviewing all death sentences, but this opinion is not legally binding, and the court is to retain the final decision.

Human Rights Concerns:
International groups have expressed concern about the fairness of the trials, especially when they occur in mass trials, and whether proper legal representation was provided to some of the accused.

The Global Picture
All over the world, many countries have already abolished capital punishment; that is, they no longer use it as a punishment for any crime. Others have stopped using it practically, while their laws still permit it. According to the United Nations and human rights bodies, while over 110 countries have abolished it, countries still using death penalty laws continue to carry out executions under varying legal and cultural systems. Some, however, are under suspension, having ceased carrying out executions even though execution is legally permitted.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which many countries have signed, urges states to restrict the use of the death penalty and resort to it only for the most serious crimes. It puts further stress on the fact that the put-on trial must be assured of legal representation and the right to appeal.

In conclusion, the death penalty remains a serious and sensitive issue. Iran remains one of the leading enforcers of the death penalty in the Middle East, alongside Saudi Arabia, where executions are carried out frequently. While some countries consider it necessary for justice or public safety, others maintain that it should be brought to an end. All around the world, discussions go on as to whether capital punishment is a deterrent, fair, or humane. Each country has legal and cultural grounds to either keep or abolish it. By acquainting ourselves with the different systems, we come to observe the variety of legislations in the world and are given a platform to respectfully discuss issues around justice and human rights.