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Position Paper: China

China believes that the death penalty plays an important role in maintaining social order but has taken steps to reform its legal system and restrict capital punishment to the most serious crimes. It has concentrated the power to review death penalty cases at the Supreme People's Court and enacted regulations aimed at controlling the use of the death penalty strictly under law. China has also abolished the death penalty for some non-violent economic crimes and banned its use for those over age 75. Through legislative and procedural reforms, China has reduced the number of capital crimes while improving conditions for those accused and under a suspended death sentence. China views reforms to its use of the death penalty as a criminal justice issue rather than a human rights issue.

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Prerna Singh
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29 views1 page

Position Paper: China

China believes that the death penalty plays an important role in maintaining social order but has taken steps to reform its legal system and restrict capital punishment to the most serious crimes. It has concentrated the power to review death penalty cases at the Supreme People's Court and enacted regulations aimed at controlling the use of the death penalty strictly under law. China has also abolished the death penalty for some non-violent economic crimes and banned its use for those over age 75. Through legislative and procedural reforms, China has reduced the number of capital crimes while improving conditions for those accused and under a suspended death sentence. China views reforms to its use of the death penalty as a criminal justice issue rather than a human rights issue.

Uploaded by

Prerna Singh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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POSITION PAPER

CHINA
People’s Republic of China is a retributivist state, and as a country that understands the
importance of retribution to hold societies in place, China proposes reforms of the death penalty
and legal systems and condemns seeking abolition of death penalty entirely.

Keeping in line with our said stance, we have constantly striven to improve our legal system to
balance justice, human rights and proportional punishment by restricting Capital Punishment to
the most heinous crimes. The said development has come about in 5 major steps, and its essential
that the Committee is made aware of the same. These being:

1. The power to confirm a death penalty by means of review has been restricted only with
The Supreme People’s Court and the same has been withdrawn from all Provincial and
Military Courts.
2. Enactment of the Opinions on Implementation of Criminal Police of Appropriately
Combining Leniency and severity, Article 29 of which provides provision on strictly
controlling use of Death Penalty under law, there is now a provision for reprieve of two
years or suspension of execution for further scrutiny.
3. With regards to Procedural Law reform which is the most important step from a judicial
perspective-
Ministry of Public Security along with the Supreme People’s Court promulgated
Regulations on Major Issues on Reviewing and Judging Evidence While Handling Death
Cases and Regulations on Major Issues on Excluding Illegally obtained Evidence while
handling criminal cases;
4. There have also been legislative reforms to the same end-
In 2011- 8th Amendment to Criminal Law abolished Death Penalty for 13 economic and
non violent crimes and banned death penalty for people over 75 years of age
5. In 2015- 9th Amendment to Criminal Law further reduced capitally punishable offences to
46 from 55 and provision on improving executing conditions for accused of which
suspension was revoked and immediate suspension imposed was furthered.

Thus, China believes in affirmative action with regards to domestic law reform since it is
a criminal justice issue and not a human rights issue instead harping about fitting in the
current wave of supposed protection of human rights that have already been protected
well enough.

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