[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 28



CHINA:

China's highest court to order provinces to retry death sentences


China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) will send back cases involving death
sentence to provincial courts for retrial if it finds errors in judgement,
instead of directly changing the sentence, according to a regulation
released by the SPC Tuesday.

"The new regulation will guarantee that death sentences are handed out
with caution by ordering retrials, which will also improve the efficiency
of SPC death penalty reviews," a SPC spokesman told Xinhua Tuesday.

Under the new regulation, the SPC will only the change original death
penalty sentences in cases involving individual criminals facing multiple
death sentences, or multiple criminals facing death penalties.

The regulation will take effect on Feb. 28.

>From Jan. 1 the SPC was empowered to ratify death sentences, rescind or
change them or order a retrial.

(source: Xinhua)