The death penalty lacks the deterrent effect which is commonly referred to by its advocates. As recently stated by the General Assembly of the United Nations, “there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty”. The most recent study of research findings on the relationship between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, in 1988, has concluded that:"this research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.