This page is in the process of being updated (as of 03/09/2010)China has, in total numbers, the world's highest number of executions. There is currently no time-frame for abolition but there have been, over recent years, rapid developments in both attitudes toward, and implementation of, the death penalty in China and most notably the bringing back of review of all death penalty sentences to the Supreme People's Court (July 2007). As China takes steps towards the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights reform of the number of crimes attracting capital punishment is being actively discussed as well as fair trial issues in so far as they relate to capital crimes. The GBCC has been working with Chinese partners since 2003 on procedural and substantive law issues associated with the Death Penalty.
Promoting judicial discretion in the reduction and restriction of the application of the death penalty
The overall objective of this project (2009-2011) is to reduce and restrict the use of the death penalty in China by promoting judicial discretion through the training of judges in local courts and the development of strict sentencing and evidence guidelines for trial procedures. This is the first time that training is provided to Chinese judges at that level on international human rights convention in the application of death penalty as well as international standards on a fair trial and independent justice. 116 judges will be trained in three provinces of China, in higher and intermediate courts. Evidence and sentencing guidelines will be drafted to restrict the application of capital punishment in the case of drug-related crimes. The guidelines will then be tested in Yunnan province, which counts a high prevalence of drug-related crimes. According to the Supreme People’s Court, drug-related crimes constitute one of the main reasons for the application of death penalty in China. This programme is funded by the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights and the UK Strategic Programme Fund.
Moving the Debate Forward: China's Use of the Death Penalty 2007-2009
One of the key obstacles cited by government representatives in China against abolition of the death penalty is that of public opinion. Retaining and using the death penalty is perceived as being deeply embedded in Chinese thinking about justice and punishment, and therefore promotion of abolition is seen to be very difficult. This EU-China cooperation project was launched in January 2007 and completed in October 2009. It sought to understand public opinion better and make efforts to influence and shape both the debate amongst the general public and amongst policy makers.
All together 30 individual activities were delivered by GBCC project team together with two Chinese partners, The College of Criminal Law Science (Beijing Normal University) and The Research Centre on Criminal Law (Wuhan University). During the project lifetime, more than 4000 people from various organisations took part in the project activities and among them around 100 judges from both the Supreme People’s Court and Local High Courts as well as leading policy and legal reform leaders from the Chinese government have supported and involved in various project activities.
Key project outputs include:
- An International Research Centre on Death Penalty was established which will continue to produce evidence on ways to the eventual abolition of the death penalty.
- A website www.death-penalty.cn was developed and launched at the end of the project. The website is the first of its kind in China and has attracted more 7000 visitors when it was formally launched in October 2009.
- Six public forums on death penalty reform attracted 1,750 participants from the general public. 1000 pamphlets listing key facts and key abolition arguments have been distributed.
- This project for the first time produced a scientifically reliable and comprehensive opinion survey towards on death penalty. It appears that legal professionals are more in favour of death penalty (91%) than the general public (58%). From a comparative prospective, the proportion of the general public in favour of the death penalty in China is within average. When presented with more information (on the availability of other forms of punishment or about the exact circumstances of the case for instance), the general public tends to be less in favour of capital punishment.
This project was funded by the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights and the UK Strategic Programme Fund
Documents from Research Survey on the Death Penalty in China, 2007-9
- Introduction, by Roger Hood, Professor of Criminology and Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford University, (4 pages)
- Survey of Legal Professionals, by Wuhan University Criminal Law Research Centre
- Survey of Public Opinion, by Dietrich Oberwittler and QI Shenghui, Max Planck Institute, Freiburg, Germany, (30 pages)
- Comparative Survey, by Dietrich Oberwittler, QI Shenghui (Max Planck Institute), and Wuhan University Criminal Law Research Centre
Strengthening Defence in Death Penalty Cases
The main aims of the project (2003-2006) were to The main aims of the project (2003-2006) were to strengthen the capacity of defence lawyers to promote the legal rights of those accused of capital crimes. It did this through training modules for lawyers, workshops with legal aid centres, professional networking, high-level dialogue and research. This project was funded by the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights and the UK Global Opportunities Fund.
The GBCC's death penalty projects have been generously funded by the European Union, with additional support from the British Embassy in China's Strategic Programme Fund.
updated 3 September 2010