The King Edward's film rather brilliantly deals with Hakamada's case by focusing on what the passage of 45 years "feels like", as captured by the anecdotes of teachers and pupils speaking about notable events in their lives during the years 1968-2012.

When the new e-petitions system went live all the talk was of the return of the death penalty. Those of us of a more liberal mindset braced ourselves for an outpouring of the most reactionary, kneejerk populism imaginable.

The Italian murder case that has gripped media in the UK, US and Italy for nearly half a decade took an incredible turn this week as Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, found guilty alongside Rudy Guede of killing Briton Meredith Kercher in 2007, had their convictions overturned. While the surreal scenes in and around the Perugia courthouse after the appeal decision resembled something out of a TV legal drama, replete with crowds hurling insults at lawyers and the stunned defendants being led through packs of suited men by the police, the chaotic case highlights again that miscarriages of justice do happen in the west, and that the lobby pressing for the resurrection of capital punishment in European nations should be held at bay.

Hope descended into horror on Wednesday, as the US Supreme Court considered, and then rejected, a request from attorneys acting on behalf of Troy Davis to stay his execution. All the while, I am told, he was strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber waiting to die.

Capital punishment discourse is complex and not reducible to an opinion poll or law and order debate, it is farther reaching than that and has the capability to effect the fundamental power dynamic between individuals and the government.

The 'common sense' narrative on capital punishment may appeal to the visceral sense of revenge and 'justice' that naturally resides in most people, but the pragmatic truth is that it is an impractical and dangerous step backwards.