According to Justice Smith, the death penalty is not clearly and consistently imposed.
Capital punishment, also refered to as the death penalty, is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is killed by the state as a punishment for a crime.
The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence. The act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes or capital offences.