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Contemporary Death Penalty Issues in China

Contemporary Death Penalty Issues in China. Liling Yue yueliling@gmail.com China University of Political Science and Law. History of Death Penalty. 2033 B.C.E. Xia Dynasty 1910, Great Qin Criminal Code: offenses eligible for death penalty reduced from 840 to around 20

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Contemporary Death Penalty Issues in China

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  1. Contemporary Death Penalty Issues in China Liling Yue yueliling@gmail.com China University of Political Science and Law

  2. History of Death Penalty • 2033 B.C.E. Xia Dynasty • 1910, Great Qin Criminal Code: offenses eligible for death penalty reduced from 840 to around 20 • 1912, Republic of China, Provisional New Regulations of Criminal Law: 19 offenses eligible for death penalty • 1928, National Party government enacted first modern Criminal Law Code: 22 articles related to death penalty offenses

  3. Number of Executions • Still national secret. Why? - “international profile” The Next Frontier,Zimring/Johnson - Chinese saying: “You should not disclose your family skeletons.” • Why are foreigners interested?

  4. Death Penalty Offenses • 1979 Criminal Code: 28 offenses in 15 articles • 1981-1997, NPC enacted 24 individual criminal acts or regulations affecting the death penalty (both added and deleted death penalty offenses) • 1997 Criminal Code, 68 offenses in 47 articles • 2011 Eighth Amendment of Criminal Code, deleted 13 offenses (55 death penalty offenses) • Ninth Amendment? Deleted 9 offences

  5. Criminal Procedure Issues in Death Penalty Context • First instance trial conducted in intermediate court • Accused enjoys right to free legal aid (lawyer’s assistance) • Second instance trial open to public • Standard of proof higher than ordinary cases • Since 2007, all death penalty cases reviewed by Supreme People’s Court

  6. Final Review Proceedings of the Supreme Court • Final review power retaken in 2007. Previously, violent crimes and drug crimes were reviewed by the high courts. Until 2007, the Supreme Court only reviewed cases of economic crime. • Five chambers of the Supreme Court mainly review death penalty cases. When deemed necessary, Supreme Court judges meet the accused. • Proceedings before the Supreme Court are not open to the public. • The Supreme Court can change death penalty into other penalties and can send the case back to the original trial court for retrial.

  7. Remaining Issues in Death Penalty Review Proceedings • Provision on free legal aid in recently amended Criminal Procedure Law is vague. • Amnesty or pardon proceedings are not applied in practice.

  8. Public Opinion of Death Penalty – Yao Jia Xin Case

  9. Yao Jia Xin Murder Case • Summary of the case: On October 20, 2010, Mr. Yao Jia Xin, a 22-year-old student at Xian Conservatory of Music, hit a woman named Zhang Miao with his car. When he saw Ms. Zhang copying down his car’s license plate number, he took out a knife and stabbed her eight times until she died. He was arrested on October 22. On October 23, Mr. Yao confessed. His trial was held in March 2011 at Xi’an Intermediate People’s Court. He was convicted and sentenced to death on April 22,2011. He appealed to the Higher Court of Shan Xi Province, but to no avail. The Supreme Court reviewed the case and concluded that the first and second trial were accurate. He was executed in on June 7,2011.

  10. Public Opinion of Yao Case • On March 23, 2011, before the trial started, the court handed out questionnaires to the 500 people in attendance (among them 400 university students). The questionnaire consisted of only two questions: 1) What kind of punishment does Mr. Yao deserve? 2) What are your suggestions for the trial proceedings. The court said it would take account of public opinion. The court’s behavior is very controversial. • In an online survey conducted by Yahoo about whether Mr. Yao should be sentenced to death, 96.5% of the respondents (10,710 out of 11,100) said that he should.

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