A summary execution is a type of extrajudicial punishment in which an accused or reported suspect of criminal activity is killed, often at the time and place of their being discovered. Extrajudicial punishment is Punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a Court or legal authority Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Summary executions may be a tactic employed by parties involved in guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc See also Insurgency In the context of an occupation or a Civil war, counter-insurgency (abbreviated COIN is a military term for the combat
Because some summary executions occur without any meaningful inquiry or investigation, they are often considered illegal, and therefore acts of murder. Inquiry or enquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting Knowledge, resolving Doubt, or solving a Problem. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries They may, in rare cases, be less objectionable under extreme circumstances, such as in a war zone, or a similar context of profound instability, where the criminal justice system is non-functioning or otherwise too overwhelmed to deal with a wide-scale breakdown in government. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, Common law and Religious law. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government.
Summary executions typically occur outdoors; bringing the accused to an office or lockup is generally a prelude to an inquest or trial. They are often carried out expediently by shooting, hanging, stabbing, and stoning, among other methods. Execution by shooting is a form of Capital punishment whereby an executed person is shot by one or more Firearms It is the most common method of execution Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death A stabbing is the penetration of a sharp or pointed object at close range Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of Capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies Poisoning, electrocution, and other methods requiring controlled conditions would be impractical. Execution by electrocution (usually referred to after its method of implementation as the Electric Chair) is an execution method originating in the United States in which the