Resumé The right to life and the capital punishment Death penalty or capital punishment, or extreme penalty, is a punishment that assumes killing (or execution) of condemned person for a criminal offence provided it is possible to impose this sentence in accordance with the criminal law in force. At former times these crimes were called capital or hanging crimes. With regard to its definitiveness (impossibility of any redress after its execution) it is very controversial punishment. Its supporters argue that it is the sole just sentence for homicide and other felonies, that it excludes recurrence and it has significant deterrent (preventive) effects. On the other hand, the opponents allege not only moral arguments concerning the right of each person to life but they also mention the danger of judicial error which is incorrigible in this case. Furthermore, the objectors point out that the death sentence is not so intimidating. In addition, the costs of the execution use to be more expensive than life imprisonment. Since 1970s the capital punishment has been gradually cancelled in the majority of European and South American countries. Some states of the USA and the People's Republic of China are among countries that still make practise of the death penalty. I deal with the capital sentence in the first part...

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A pesquisa se debruça sobre o inteiro teor de acórdão do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) proferido por maioria, em plenário, no julgamento dos embargos de declaração que foram interpostos na ação penal 516/DF (AP 516 ED/DF). Faz-se o seguinte questionamento: quais os argumentos dos Ministros do STF sobre a existência ou não de marco temporal para que o pagamento integral do débito tributário possa vir a extinguir a punibilidade dos crimes fiscais? Por meio da metodologia de estudo de caso do acórdão em questão, AP 516 ED/DF, bem como da análise de conteúdo especificamente sobre a extinção da punibilidade pelo pagamento integral do débito tributário, busca-se identificar as contribuições do caso em tela para compreensão da necessidade ou não de existência do Direito Penal Tributário. Como resultados obtidos, identifica-se que há um argumento que prevalece nos votos dos Ministros do STF, qual seja, a existência de uma política criminal vinculada a instrumentos de arrecadação fiscal. Esse argumento motiva a aplicação do mecanismo despenalizador da extinção da punibilidade dos crimes fiscais pelo pagamento do débito a qualquer tempo, como entende atualmente o STF, e isso significa a instrumentalização do Direito Penal como meio de coerção para cobrança de dívidas tributárias, o que torna questionável a própria criminalização das relações jurídico tributárias. / This research addresses the final decision delivered by the majority of the judges of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) in criminal action AP 516 ED/DF. The research question is: what were the judges arguments on the existence or not of a time frame for the full payment of tax debt in order to extinguish criminal liability of tax crimes? AP 516 ED/DF was analyzed following case study method. By examining the arguments on the extinction of criminal liability by the full payment of the tax debt, the research seeks to identify the contributions of this case in order to understand the need or not for the existence of criminal tax law. The results indicate a prevailing argument in the judges votes, which is the existence of a criminal policy linked to tax collection instruments. This argument drives the application of this de-penalization mechanism to extinguish tax crime liability through the payment of the debt at any time, as it is currently the opinion of the Supreme Court. This represents the instrumentalization of criminal law as a means of coercion to collect tax, and makes questionable the criminalization of tax offenses.