[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 16



CHINA:

China's supreme court ready to exercise death penalty review right : top
judge


China's supreme court has made sound preparations and is ready to take
back the death penalty review right from local higher courts, said the
chief justice on Friday.

Xiao Yang, President of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC), said at a
criminal judge conference that preparations have been progressing and the
SPC is "basically ready" to exercise its right to review the death penalty
from Jan. 1 next year.

He ordered judges to exercise extreme caution when sentencing people to
death, saying that every judgement must stand the test of time.

Only an "extremely small number" of serious offenders should be given the
capital sentence, he said.

The SPC used to review all death penalty cases until 1983. But provincial
courts were later given the authority for crimes that seriously endangered
public security and social order, such as homicide, rape, robbery and the
criminal use of explosives.

The practice of provincial courts handling both death sentence appeals and
conducting final reviews, however, has drawn sharp criticism in recent
years in the wake of some highly-publicized miscarriages of justice.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China'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.

The legal change will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2007.

To prepare for the changes, the SPC has added 3 criminal tribunals to the
previous 2 and expanded the death penalty review team from 50 to 100
judges.

Many of the judges were recruited from local courts and have finished
their 3-month training at the highest court. They will be on probation for
a year before officially assuming office.

The number of judges exercising death penalty review rights is expected to
rise as the SPC is working on a plan to recruit experienced lawyers and
law school teachers as senior judges.

In China, capital punishment falls into 2 categories -- a death penalty in
which the criminal is executed immediately after sentencing, and death
with a 2-year reprieve.

(source: Xinhua)