For the first time in New China's history, the number of
criminals given death sentences with a two-year reprieve - which
usually translate into life imprisonment - have this year
outnumbered those sentenced to immediate execution, the country's
top judge said on Friday.
This reflects the new trend since the Supreme People's Court
(SPC) took back the right to review death sentences from local
courts on January 1, Chief Justice Xiao Yang said.
"The number of death sentences has been gradually decreasing and
human rights are being better protected," Xiao told a national work
conference on court reform, without elaborating.
Capital punishment should be given "only to an extremely small
number of serious offenders", he said.
"The judicial reform process has been progressing smoothly, with
leniency shown in a growing number of criminal trials," he
said.
In Jiangxi Province, the number of death sentences with
immediate execution issued up to October was just half what it was
in the same period last year, Kang Weimin, president of the
provincial high people's court, said.
"The reform has made good progress in line with the global
trend," he told a panel discussion.
As well as changing the judicial review process for death
penalties, the reform also requires courts to conduct open trials
for all second hearings of death sentence cases.
In the past, open trials in such cases were very rare.
Last month, Fan Lingxiang was found guilty of killing his sister
and stepmother by a court in Qinghai Province and given the death
sentence with immediate execution.
However, after reviewing the case, the SPC overturned the
verdict on the grounds that immediately after committing the crime,
Fan called an ambulance, turned himself in to police and offered to
pay compensation.
The local court later sentenced him to death with a two-year
reprieve.
Chen Weidong, a professor of criminal law at Renmin University
of China, said the judicial reform had been a success.
"There has not been a rise in crime just because fewer people
have been put to death," he told China Daily.
According to figures from the Ministry of Public Security,
between January and July of this year, the numbers of cases
involving four types of violent crime were all down from the same
period last year. Murder cases fell 9.1 percent, rape cases 2.9
percent, arson cases 7.9 percent, and bombings 27 percent.
"The reform will promote judicial changes in other areas,
including prudent investigation and prosecution," Chen said.
According to official figures, the number of people sentenced
last year either to death or to between five years' to life
imprisonment was 153,724.
(China Daily November 24, 2007)