Related to the execution of the death penalty

People's Republic of China (PRC) has the largest number of executions in the world, but the specific number of executions every year has never been publicly released or officially verified as a secret. However, the figures published by various institutions are quite different. For example, the Italian anti-death penalty organization published a report saying that in 2006, 5,628 people were executed worldwide, including 5,000 in China. According to the statistics of Amnesty International in 2006, 1790 people were sentenced to death, and10/0 people were executed. At least 17 18 people were executed in 2008.

China's death penalty system contains a unique form: the execution of death penalty is suspended for two years, which stipulates that if there is no intentional crime within the probation period of probation, it can be commuted to life imprisonment, and the commutation shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of life imprisonment. If there is indeed a significant meritorious service, after the expiration of two years, it will be reduced to 25 years in prison.

If the offender is a minor or pregnant woman under the age of 18, the death penalty (including suspended death penalty) is not applicable. The old criminal law stipulated that a felon who has reached the age of 16 but has not reached the age of 18 can be sentenced to death (with a two-year reprieve), but the new criminal law deleted this article, that is, if he is under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime, the death penalty is not applicable, including the death penalty with a two-year reprieve.

In the judicial process, there are many unjust, false and misjudged cases, especially in the so-called "strike hard" period. Some legal scholars believe that "strike hard" violates the concept of the rule of law, and people sentenced to death in strike hard are usually deprived of the right of appeal because the crime was committed during the strike hard period.

People's Republic of China (PRC) has long executed the death penalty by shooting. Usually carried out by armed police. 1997 65438+ 10, the newly revised criminal procedure law stipulates for the first time that "the death penalty should be executed by shooting or injection". 1On March 28th, 997, Kunming Intermediate People's Court executed the death penalty by lethal injection for the first time. However, due to the influence of prisoner status and cost, the proportion of injection is still not very high.

The organ that executes the death penalty is the people's court that originally tried the case. The people's court that originally tried the case shall execute the death penalty within seven days after receiving the death penalty execution order issued by President the Supreme People's Court.

It is worth noting that the 24th meeting of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) adopted the Decision on Amending the Organic Law of People's Courts on June 5438+1 October 3, 2006, and after June 65438+1October1June 2007, the right to approve the death penalty was returned to the Supreme People's Court for review [7]. According to the Supreme People's Court, in 2007, the Supreme People's Court revoked 15% of the local court's death sentences due to insufficient evidence, improper procedures or excessive sentencing.

Criminal law of the people's Republic of China

Principal punishment: public surveillance-criminal detention-fixed-term imprisonment-life imprisonment-death penalty.

Supplementary punishment: fine-deprivation of political rights-confiscation of property

Basis: Articles 33 and 34 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). Before 1966, English common law and legislation passed by the British Parliament in 186 1 were implemented in Hong Kong, and the following crimes were punishable by death:

Murder; Treason; Arson at the Royal Pier; Violent piracy.

Like Britain, when a judge sentences a prisoner to death, the judge will immediately put a thin black towel on the prisoner's head and then sentence the prisoner to death.

Britain abolished the death penalty from 65438 to 0965. As a British colony at that time, Hong Kong followed the suzerain and stopped executing the death penalty from 1966. The last prisoner executed that year was Vietnamese Huang Qiji. Huang Qiji stabbed a China man to death in Yonglong Street, Sham Shui Po, and was sentenced to death as usual. Huang appealed to the Court of Appeal of the British Supreme Court and the Privy Council, and still upheld the original judgment. Finally,19661165438 was awarded. However, the law of Hong Kong still retains the death penalty, and the court will also sentence prisoners to hang according to law. However, all those sentenced to death at that time would be automatically pardoned by the Queen or the Governor and sentenced to life imprisonment.

1In April, 1993, Hong Kong amended its legislation to make life imprisonment the maximum penalty and formally abolished the death penalty. 1After Hong Kong was transformed into a People's Republic of China (PRC) Special Administrative Region in July 1997, the death penalty was not resumed.

(China) Punishment in Hongkong

Existing punishment: life imprisonment-imprisonment-fine-confiscation-social service order-signing conservative behavior

Abolished punishment: death penalty-flogging. Because Article 39 of the Criminal Code of Macao stipulates that there shall be no death penalty, permanent, indefinite or indefinite deprivation of liberty or security measures, there is no life imprisonment or life imprisonment in Macao. The maximum sentence in Macao is 30 years.

(China) Penalties in Macau

Principal punishment and fixed-term imprisonment-fine

Accessory punishment: prohibition of official duties-suspension of official duties

Prohibited punishment: death penalty-permanent, indefinite or indefinite deprivation of liberty.

Basis: (China) Macao Criminal Code, Volume I, Part III (China), executed by shooting in Taiwan Province Province. Amnesty International believes that Taiwan Province Province (China) is a place where the death penalty and execution are imposed for ordinary crimes. According to Article 33 of the Criminal Law of Taiwan Province Province, the death penalty is a principal punishment. (China) The important provisions of the criminal law of Taiwan Province Province on the death penalty are:

Article 37 (Declaration of Deprivation of Public Rights): A person sentenced to death or life imprisonment shall be declared deprived of public rights for life, which shall take effect from the time when the judgment is finalized. Article 5 1 (Method of Combined Punishment for Several Crimes): If most people are sentenced to death, one of them shall be executed. If the heaviest penalty is declared to be death, it will not be executed. However, this restriction does not apply to accessory punishment, nor does it apply to the fine imposed when the latest version of Taiwan Province Criminal Law was implemented on July 1 2006. Article 63 (Limitation on Matching Punishment between the Old and the Young): Criminals under the age of 18 and over the age of 80 shall not be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. If it is death or life imprisonment, the punishment shall be mitigated. Article 64 (Limitation and Mitigation of Aggravation of Death Penalty): The death penalty shall not be aggravated. The death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 12 to 15. However, since July 65, 2006, at 438+0, those sentenced to death are life imprisonment, and will not be commuted to fixed-term imprisonment. Article 80 (Limitation Period of Right of Prosecution): If the right of prosecution for capital crime is not exercised within 20 years, the right of prosecution will be extinguished, but it will be extended to 30 years from July 1 2006. Article 84 (Limitation Period of Execution Right of Death Penalty): If the execution right of death penalty is not exercised within 30 years, the execution right of death penalty will be extinguished, but it will be extended to 40 years from July 1 2006. Article 3 of the Provisions on Punishment of Crimes of Impacting National Currency (Crime of Forging or Altering Currency Notes): Whoever forges or alters currency notes with the intention of exercising currency notes and disrupting finance, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. Article 27 of the Criminal Law of the Armed Forces (Crime of disobeying operational orders): Whoever disobeys operational orders in front of the enemy shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. The only crime of death penalty or absolute death penalty has disappeared because of the legal amendment in 20 10.

(China) There are still many crimes related to the death penalty in the laws of Taiwan Province Province, but judges usually decide whether to impose the death penalty after considering all the circumstances. ((China) There is no jury system in Taiwan Province Province, so it is decided by the judge. According to different charges, the charges relative to the death penalty are as follows:

Sentenced to death or life imprisonment: (China) Criminal Law of Taiwan Province Province: Articles 10 1 (uprising and civil strife), 103 (conspiracy to wage war), 104 (conspiracy to lose territory), and/kloc-0. Article 272 (Crime of killing lineal blood relatives) Article 332 (Crime of intentional homicide by robbers) Article 334 (Crime of intentional homicide by pirates) Article 348 (Crime of intentional homicide by kidnapping others for ransom) Article 4 (Crime of manufacturing, transporting and selling first-class drugs) Article 6 (Crime of using violence, kidnapping others for ransom) Article 5 (Civil servants who violate Article 4, paragraph 2 or paragraph 1, excuse their position power, opportunity or method) Whoever destroys Article 3 of the national monetary punishment regulations (if the circumstances are serious, counterfeiting or altering currency disturbs finance) shall be sentenced to death, life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of 12 years or more (China). Article 334, paragraph 2 (Pirates combined with arson, forced sexual intercourse, kidnapping and extortion or causing serious injuries), Article 347, paragraph 2 (Crime of kidnapping and extortion to death) and Article 348, paragraph 2 (Crime of kidnapping and extortion combined with forced sexual intercourse or causing serious injuries) are sentenced to death, life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of 10 years or more (China), and the Criminal Law of Taiwan Province Province is1. Item 2 of Article 185- 1 (the crime of hijacking an aircraft to death), Item 3 of Article 185-2 (the crime of endangering aircraft safety and equipment to death), Item 3 of Article 27 1 (the crime of homicide) and Item 2 of Article 332 (the crime of robbery to death) Although the article mentions that the death penalty is executed by injecting drugs or shooting (in the past, it was even mentioned that the death penalty was executed by shooting, electrocution, hanging and poison gas), it has only been used as a method of executing the death penalty for decades. (China) During the period of martial law in Taiwan Province Province, political prisoners were executed in Machangcho from 1949 until the mid-1950s, when political prisoners were executed in Ankeng execution ground, Xindian City, Taipei County. 1987 after martial law was lifted in Taiwan Province province, all prisoners sentenced to death were executed in detention centers.

(China) There is a certain voice in Taiwan Province Province supporting the abolition of the death penalty. Since Democratic Progressive Party came to power, the number of executions has been decreasing year by year. From 2006 to 2007, no one on death row was brought to justice, and according to the "Judgment and Execution of Death Penalty in 2008" published by the headquarters of Amnesty International (AI) on March 24th, 2009, Wang Qingfeng, the new Minister of Justice (China), also tends to abolish the death penalty. (China) In fact, there is a trend to abolish the death penalty in Taiwan Province Province, but the general public is still generally opposed to abolishing the death penalty. Its argument is mainly that the death penalty has a deterrent effect, saves prison costs and directly solves the problem of recidivism. The unfair imprisonment criticized by the people of Taiwan Province Province (China) should start with improving the quality of the judiciary and the police, rather than abolishing the death penalty.

In addition to the death penalty, the penalty in Taiwan Province Province (China) cannot permanently isolate the offenders, because in China, the prison term in Taiwan Province Province is limited to 30 years, and the parole conditions for life imprisonment are not strict.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice of Taiwan Province Province (China), in 20 14 years, there were 90 prisoners on death row in Taiwan Province, of whom 29 were sentenced to death in the final instance, awaiting execution, and another 6 1 were still on appeal or retrial. However, there is a puzzling phenomenon in Taiwan Province Province, that is, after a prisoner is sentenced to death, the Ministry of Justice does not execute the death penalty, which makes the condemned prisoner feel great psychological pressure.

Lin Xinyi, a social worker who has been in contact with almost all death row inmates, said: "Death row inmates don't know which night to wake up in their sleep, and then they are dragged to the execution ground to face the fear of death, which really puts them under tremendous psychological pressure and produces the mentality of' one shot for life'. However, if you tell them that it is possible to live, no one really wants to die. " .

2012,65438+265438 At 6: 30 pm on February 0, the Ministry of Justice executed the death penalty again, and executed six death row inmates, namely Zeng Siru, Hong Mingcong, Guang Deqiang, Chen, Dai Deying and Huang Xianzheng. In 20 14, there are still 55 prisoners on death row to be executed. Of course, this move was protested by the European Union, especially the French condemnation of Taiwan Province Province (China), because the United Nations adopted a "decision to suspend the execution of the death penalty" on February 20, 20 12, arguing that Taiwan Province Province (China) failed to keep its promise. The French representative posted three articles condemning Taiwan Province Province (China) on the website of Taiwan Province Association, which mainly included three contents. First, it considers that Taiwan Province Province (China) has violated the 20th United Nations Agreement. Second, the EU is considering sanctions against Taiwan Province Province (China). Third, people in Taiwan Province Province should be coaxed, and teaching people in Taiwan Province Province the death penalty will not reduce the crime rate.

(China) Penalties in Taiwan Province Province

Principal punishment: death penalty-life imprisonment-fixed-term imprisonment-criminal detention-fine.

Additional punishment: deprivation of public rights-confiscation-recovery, recovery or compensation

Basis: Articles 33 and 34 of the Criminal Law of Taiwan Province Province (China). The country with the highest death penalty ratio in the world is Singapore. In 20001* *, the country executed 70 death sentences, while the United States only executed 66 cases in the same year. And the death penalty in Singapore is hanging, which has been abolished in most countries. The death penalty in Singapore is executed every Friday morning, and the families of the condemned prisoners are often notified after the execution.

According to article 23 1 of Singapore's Criminal Procedure Law, a person sentenced to death shall not be flogged.

Singapore penalty kick

Death penalty)-imprisonment; Imprisonment; Imprisonment (including life imprisonment; Life imprisonment)-confiscation of property-fine; Good)-flogging

Basis: Article 53 of the Criminal Law of Singapore; Chinese vocabulary According to the common vocabulary of primary courts 1987, Philippine President Corazon Aquino banned the death penalty, making the Philippines the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty in contemporary history. However, only one year later, due to the sharp rise of criminal crime rate in the Philippines and the political situation, the movement to resume the death penalty began to intensify.

1993, the National Assembly passed a bill to restore the death penalty. 1994 1, the death penalty came into effect again in the Philippines, using injection. But in fact, none of the prisoners were executed. Until1February 5, 999, Leo Echegaray, the prisoner who raped his stepdaughter, became the first criminal to be sent to the grave after 23 years of abolition of the death penalty. In the next two years, another six people followed suit, all on charges of rape and murder or robbery and murder. But in 2000, the death penalty was frozen.

200 1 gloria macapagal arroyo, as a Catholic leader, made it clear that he refused to execute the death penalty. She issued a presidential decree to suspend the execution of the death penalty and commuted 18 death row prisoners to life imprisonment. So the death penalty has always existed in name only. According to the criminal law, death row prisoners are still emerging, but they can't be executed. As of March 2003, there were 994 death row inmates in the Philippines. Except for a few people who were acquitted or reduced in sentence after review by the Supreme Court, most people are still waiting for punishment.

On February 5, 2003, President Arroyo announced the cancellation of the Philippine decision to suspend the execution of the death penalty, on the grounds that crimes such as robbery and kidnapping were increasingly rampant in China. After learning the news, the Catholic Church in the Philippines expressed deep disappointment and sadness. At the same time, the judicial department of the Philippine government has arranged to execute two prisoners by injection from June 5 to1October 5, 2004. In addition, 25 criminals who committed robbery and 4 people accused of smuggling and drug trafficking are facing the death penalty. Representatives of the middle class in the south and north of the Philippines expressed their support one after another, because they were the main targets of crimes and suffered the most human and material losses.

On June 26th, 2006, President Arroyo signed another order to abolish the death penalty. As an immigrant country with complex citizens, it is necessary for the United States to retain the death penalty. In fact, in the spirit of religion and humanity, the United States abolished the death penalty once in 1967; However, under the pressure of opponents and the cruel reality, the United States resumed the death penalty on 1976. Moreover, because federalism retains the independent legislative power of each state, some States in the United States have the death penalty, while others do not.

In addition, the death penalty is tried separately in the United States-that is, if the prosecution claims that the defendant is sentenced to death, it must be put forward in advance and can only choose between death penalty and non-death penalty (the sentence cannot be changed during the trial). In addition, in the United States, criminals have the right to choose the jury system, and the jury system needs 100% to pass, so the trial rate is extremely high, and it is almost impossible to sentence the death penalty except for the most heinous criminals (such as serial killers). Even if it can be sentenced, because the trial period in the United States is long, it is normal to delay it for two to three years.

In March 2009, New Mexico abolished the death penalty, and the maximum penalty was life imprisonment. Raul Castro, president of Cuba's Council of State, said on 20 14 that all death sentences would be reduced to fixed-term imprisonment or 30 years' imprisonment.

This is the latest reform measure. Raul said that the decision was made for humanitarian purposes, not under international pressure. Cuba has been under pressure to abolish the death penalty. Officials have never published the number of people executed in Cuba every year. According to outside estimates, it is about 40 to 50. However, the death penalty will remain in Cuba's criminal law. "It is irresponsible and hypocritical to give up the death penalty as a deterrent to real terrorists and imperialist mercenaries." Raul said at the Central Committee meeting in communist party, Cuba. At present, all European countries except Belarus and Kazakhstan have abolished the death penalty, and France officially abolished it on 198 1. However, the debate on the death penalty in France has not ended there, and there are still many supporters of the death penalty. On February 19, 2007, the French National Assembly and the Senate held a joint meeting to adopt a constitutional amendment, which formally wrote the abolition of the death penalty into the French Constitution. On February 26th, 2002, the Serbian Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopted a resolution to abolish the death penalty. Worldwide, 109 countries have abolished the death penalty, and 86 countries still retain it. Since 1993, there has been no execution in Serbia.