The Supreme People's Court will now take a closer look at death
sentences passed by the local courts.
From January 1, it will review all death sentences in the
country.
Preparations have progressed smoothly, and the court is
"basically ready" to exercise the right to review and make final
decisions on all death sentence cases in the country, Supreme
People's Court President Xiao Yang said yesterday.
Three criminal tribunals have been set up as a supplement to the
existing two, and the review team has been expanded, according to
the court.
New members have been selected from local courts, lawyers and
law schools, and have finished a three-month training at the
Supreme People's Court.
They are currently on probation for a year before officially
assuming office.
The court also spelt out details of the review process.
Each case will be reviewed by a team of three judges. They will
be required to check the facts, laws applied and criminal
procedures adopted.
Any testimony extracted through illegal means will be declared
invalid.
During the review, judges must arraign the defendants face to
face, and present their separate judgments and reasons in
writing.
If the case is very complicated or there are doubts over the
facts, judges can visit the place where the alleged offence took
place to check details.
Xiao reiterated that courts at all levels must exercise extreme
caution when passing the death sentence, and the penalty should be
reserved for only an "extremely small number" of serious
offenders.
"Every judgment must stand the test of time," he said.
Until 1983, the Supreme People's Court was responsible for
reviewing all death penalty cases. Then, as part of a major
crackdown on crime, provincial courts were given the authority to
pass death sentences for serious crimes such as murder, rape,
robbery and the criminal use of explosives.
However, the practice has drawn sharp criticism in recent years
in the wake of some highly publicized miscarriages of justice.
Nie Shubin, a young farmer in north China's Hebei Province, was executed in 1995 after
being convicted of raping and murdering a local woman. But early
last year, a rape and murder suspect arrested by police confessed
he had committed the crime.
To exert stricter control over the penalty, the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top
legislature, adopted an amendment in October to the organic law on
the people's court, ending the practice of allowing executions on
the order of lower-level courts.
Experts have hailed the change, saying it will better protect
human rights.
Zhao Bingzhi, president of China's Criminal Law Society and
professor at the Renmin University of China, said the death
sentence would be more carefully exercised after the change.
"Generally speaking, the Supreme People's Court order means
fewer immediate executions," he said.
In China, capital punishment falls into two categories one in
which the criminal is executed immediately after sentencing, and
the other death with a two-year reprieve.
The court also made it clear that judges should exercise caution
in handling cases of civil disputes or in cases where vengeance is
involved when applying immediate execution.
On Tuesday, the country's top procurator also said prosecuting
organs would step up supervision of the application of the death
penalty next year.
Jia Chunwang, procurator-general of the Supreme
People's Procuratorate, said prosecuting departments would
supervise appeal hearings in death penalty cases more carefully to
ensure the sentence has been properly applied.
(China Daily December 29, 2006)