China to reduce death penalty use

[Eugene]

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Friday, 14 September 2007, 10:50 GMT 11:50 UK

China to reduce death penalty use

China's Supreme Court has ordered judges to be more
sparing in the imposition of the death penalty.

An order on its website said execution should be reserved
for "an extremely small number of serious offenders".

It said the death penalty should be withheld in certain
cases of crimes of passion or economic crimes.

Amnesty International says China carried out two-thirds
of the world's executions last year, but China says it
expects a 10-year low this year.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6994673.stm

[w4rma]

1. Good. (nt)

[David__77]

2. Contradictory signals.

There's a movement among the policy elite to reduce death penalty imposition, but then still there are the cyclical "strike hard" campaigns against criminals, complete with "sentencing rallies" and so on. The overall trend is toward a more developed legal system, which is good for criminal defendents, but progress is mixed and slow.

[Deja Q]

5. Never mind killing customers with shoddily made goods and poisonous food

:shrug:

[David__77]

6. There is certainly a long way to go in terms of consumer protection.

I agree. The developing countries are faced with a terrible situation in terms of choosing between policy options. China has chosen the 1800's-style Western industrialization paradigm. While China is better off than the US around the time of the 1870's, the basic model is the same.

[LeftishBrit]

3. A step in the right direction.

[superconnected]

4. Nice they're executing less but they still execute people for non-violent crimes.

"The Supreme Court said murders triggered by family disputes should not always result in the death penalty.

Crimes of passion should take into account the offender's payment of compensation, it said.

Similarly, those convicted of economic crimes should be treated more leniently if they help to recoup money that was defrauded.

The court suggested greater use of two-year suspensions on death penalties - allowing them to be converted to imprisonment. "


It's bad enough they execute for financial crimes, but allowing people to
buy their way out of an execution makes poor people more likely to be executed than rich. And yeah, I know that's the same in the US because it depends on how good of a lawyer you can afford, whether or not you get executed.

Also attached to that article:

"CHINA'S DEATH PENALTY
China is believed to execute more people than rest of the world combined
Non-violent crimes such as tax fraud and embezzlement carry death penalty
Other crimes include murder, rape, robbery and drug offences
China does not publish official figures on executions
Many cases are based on confessions and trials often take less than a day, observers say
"