The Chinese Laws and Practices Regarding the Death Sentence for Murder

• In Event: Contemporary Issues Related to Capital Punishment

Abstract

For most retentionist countries, murder has been one of the major crimes subject to the death penalty. China is no exception. What is exceptional in the Chinese law regarding the death penalty is its distinction between death with immediate execution and suspended death sentence. While the death penalty has been used by the Chinese government as a tool to suppress crimes, suspended death sentence is designed for criminals who have committed a crime so serious that warrants the death penalty; yet immediate execution is deemed unnecessary. Recent legal reforms in China attempted to formalize and standardize judicial decision-making, particularly with regard to death sentence decisions. Drawing on Supreme Court’s Interpretations, guiding cases, and other judicial judgment documents in murder cases, this paper examines the changing criteria for death sentences with or without immediate execution, and how these new legal criteria have been interpreted and implemented in murder cases. The paper discusses the complex yet unique nature of judicial decision-making process in China, and speculates on the possible role of the suspended death sentence on the abolitionist movement in China.

Authors

• Hong Lu, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Yudu Li, Sam Houston State University

• Bin Liang, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa