Last Updated on November 18, 2020 by LawEuro
What is the death penalty, punishment or mercy for a person who has violated the law of a state in the heaviest form? What is the purpose of this type of punishment? Are there any death penalty problems? Is capital punishment humanely committed for crimes committed by a person? These questions are more philosophical; in aggregate, Confucius tried to answer some questions of the death penalty in the Chinese state. Philosopher Confucius of the death penalty against criminals stated: “You control, why resort to murder? If you wish to be kind, then the people will be kind. The virtues of a noble husband are the wind, and the quality of a low person is grass, and the wind walking on the grass certainly bends her. ”
Perhaps these questions can be answered in China – the People’s Republic of China.
According to legend, the ruler of ancient China Shun belongs to the first idea of justice. This ruler conducted several reforms in the direction of criminal penalties. Shun asserted that to some extent “compassion determines the punishment measure”, to the highest measure of punishment were those who committed crimes intentionally and repeatedly.
Over time, compassion died away, perhaps due to the fact that there were many wars in China, and thus the punishments were tougher, the death penalty had many varieties. There were three types (groups) of the death penalty: 1. Easy; 2. Medium; 3. Great gravity. The first included mainly the separation of the head from the body. The second group included boiler welding, skin stripping, etc. The third group included the execution of “pieces”, i.e. cut off the pieces of the body, but gradually, etc. These types of executions were performed publicly, and the remains of the bodies were hung out for public display. This action was for intimidation and warning about what happens for crimes of this kind.
Mao Zedong, a political figure, for the first time in the history of China, enshrined the notion of postponement of the execution of punishment, which was legally enshrined in the 1979 criminal code. This type of punishment became under the strict control of the authorities, capital punishment began to be applied lawfully and consistently.
At the moment, the ruling party is developing Chinese legislation. The legal system of the PRC is complex in a certain sense and is similar to the structure of the USSR. In modern times, the international community is influencing the legal basis of China almost every year. Due to the influence of other states on China, liberalization began, according to capital punishment, since 2011, the death penalty for 13 elements of non-violent crimes (example: theft) was abolished in that year, but the trend towards an increase in the term of punishment has increased. In a given state, a political party is loyal to the death penalty; mitigating this type of punishment is a “political necessity”.
In 1998, the PRC Government signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has not been ratified in the territory of this state. The strength of this pact is to abolish the death penalty without fail. Due to the fact that the PRC did not ratify the pact, the Chinese authorities eased sanctions in several articles in the Criminal Code of the PRC, for which the death penalty was provided, as 2013 sources show, “from 68 to 55”. At the end of 2015, the death penalty was abolished for another 9 crimes (spreading rumors, smuggling weapons and ammunition). The death penalty does not apply in Hong Kong and Macau, the latter is almost an autonomous region.
An important course of the PRC was the signing of the 1997 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in 2001 this pact was ratified. In December 2003, the UN Convention against Corruption was signed, on January 13, 2006, the PRC ratified it in the republic. Corruption offenses in the PRC are among the first crimes and are controlled at the highest level. For example, a bribe giver bribed 100,000 yuan to a bribe taker, the latter is punished under the Criminal Code of China by 10-year work at a labor camp. Perhaps even life imprisonment, if there are aggravating circumstances, then the death penalty and confiscation of property. Death awaits and bribe givers. An example in 2008 was the execution of 150 businessmen who received construction contracts for the Olympics by bribing, they were executed at a stadium near Beijing. This case caused discontent in international society due to the fact that the amount of the bribe was too low. In 2016, the death penalty in the People’s Republic of China may come if the amount of the bribe exceeds 3 million yuan.
At present, there are two types of death sentence in the PRC – it is the execution itself and the delay in enforcement of up to two years. A convict who repented for two years and changed in a positive way, then in the aggregate of these circumstances, at the end of the deferment, the death penalty can be replaced by an indefinite term of imprisonment. Indefinite deprivation of liberty under certain conditions may be replaced by deprivation of liberty for a term of 15 to 20 years, these conditions are negotiated in Art. 50 of the Criminal Code of China. It is possible that after two years the convicted (convicted) resisted re-education, but this resistance must be proved, then by the decision of the Supreme People’s Court or his sanction the death penalty is carried out.
The Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China states that the death penalty cannot be applied to women who are in a state of pregnancy during the trial and to persons who have not reached the age of 18 at the time of the crime. Consequently, the death penalty is extended to other persons regardless of whether you are sane or not. The maximum age limit for the death penalty is missing.
Practice shows that in the PRC, the defense of criminal lawyers in connection with the death penalty is ineffective. A lawyer may lose his authority if the judge decides on the death penalty of the client, naturally experienced lawyers try not to take up these cases. Some lawyers say that they are “not sure that they can oppose the state mechanism, which has concentrated the functions of criminal prosecution in their hands,” perhaps this problem is the population, which is about one billion four hundred million people.
In connection with the above, we can say that the institute of the death penalty in the PRC is very hard for the crimes that are being committed in this territory. This punishment does not justify itself – this can be expressed in many reasons. Due to the fact that the PRC has not ratified the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the international community cannot influence the death penalty in the PRC from a legislative point of view. The political party of this country makes some concessions and softens the sanctions of the article, thereby gradually removing the death penalty.
The procedure of execution in the Middle Kingdom is performed by injection and execution, the latter type of execution was used less frequently, what is the reason? In China, in some areas there is no specific rate of execution. How exactly is the death penalty procedure chosen? To execute the shooting, you need to choose the territory, some parameters must be observed on it – these are internal: it is 50 meters where the execution takes place, radius 200 meters from the execution itself, to cordon off the People’s Armed Police and two kilometers from the execution area, this territory is controlled by the local police . People do not see the death penalty. Carries out the execution of the legal police. Execution by execution is more difficult, because we need certain forces and the territory of the state. Positive signs for choosing the death penalty in the People’s Republic of China by injection are such methods as: 1) humanity towards a person; 2) the penalty by injection is more economical, the minimum resources of the state are spent; 3) when executed, the chances of an infection of the disease increase.
The death penalty by injection is more humane, but is it? A lethal injection is administered to a person sentenced in a mobile van or “car of death”, in which the death sentence is executed with the participation of doctors. This car is used not only for execution, but also for the transportation of organs of the dead, for transplantation or sale. In 2014, the Chinese authorities insisted that the removal of organs in the death penalty should be carried out “with the consent of the criminal’s relatives” and with the consent of the sentenced person. In early 2015, the decision of the Government of the People’s Republic of China came into force, which refers to the complete cessation of the removal of donor organs from executed prisoners. But is this true if in 2016 ““ there are 169 centers of transplantology, each of which performs up to 10 thousand operations annually, ”said the former deputy minister of health
Huang Jiefu. Is China gradually moving away from the current historical tradition of the death penalty. The Middle Kingdom understands that the death penalty is not humane for this period, and thus perhaps earns respect in international society.
The death penalty provides for the beginning of 2016 46 articles in the Criminal Code of China: rape (236); premeditated murder (232); robbery (263); treason (102); smuggling, sale, transportation, manufacture of drugs (347), etc. The crimes for which capital punishment is provided can be divided into several groups:
1. War crimes;
2. Economic crimes (2016, more than 3 million yuan);
3. Treason to the motherland;
4. Violent crimes;
5. Storage and distribution of narcotic drugs;
6. The threat to public safety (driving a car while intoxicated, if the consequences resulted in the death of a person).
Making a prediction for the future, the People’s Republic of China will reduce this list of crimes for which capital punishment is provided. The death penalty will act for war crimes, serious crimes against the person, crimes in the field of narcotic drugs, as well as for crimes of state security and the state system.
Criminal cases involving the death penalty in the PRC are considered by a court. The court has the right to interrogate the accused, the victim and the witness. If to compare with the Russian Federation, then these cases are considered by the jury, the latter in the PRC is not. China is considering cases involving lay judges, who form a single board with professional judges. There is a second instance, which takes place in cassation form. In China, there is an institution of “re-considering death sentences”, its function is to reconsider the death penalty decision by a higher court once again, and it acts when the convict has not filed a cassation appeal. Supervisory proceedings review cases that have entered into force of sentences, but at the initiative of participants in the process. The judicial system of the “Middle Kingdom” is as follows:
1. The Court of First Instance (People’s) imposes a sentence;
2. The court of second instance, if an appeal has been received or the institution of the “re-trial of the death penalty” is considered;
3. The Supreme Court: 1) gives an adjournment of the execution of the sentence; 2) Replaces the death penalty for life imprisonment; 3) makes a sentence to immediate execution.
The People’s Court provides the convict the opportunity to meet with relatives before the execution of the sentence.
Capital punishment is harsh to the crimes committed. In 2011, the former deputy mayor of Hangzhou, Xu Mayyun, was sentenced to death on charges of corruption, received over 145 million yuan (21.8 million dollars) for his services, and also embezzled more than 53 million yuan ( 8 million dollars). Businessman Liu Han had one of the largest mining corporations in the country, is accused of bribery, as well as organizing a mafia gang and committing murders, in 2014 he was sentenced to death, and 4 others. The given examples are the loudest executions in China in recent years. The death penalty does not lead to the effects committed, i.e. re-education of the person, especially executions in the People’s Republic of China are closed.
The abolition of the death penalty in the PRC is supported by the following criteria: 1. Judicial error; 2. Capital punishment does not restore the situation that existed before the crime was committed; 3. The purpose of punishment is the desire for correction; 4. Death penalty – anti-legal act. There are many opinions that are “for” the death penalty; they all contradict “against” capital punishment.
Thus, the experience of the People’s Republic of China shows that capital punishment does not deter the growth of crimes, and thus the authorities change the sanctions of the article to less severe punishment. Execution, as the death penalty, to some extent generates cruelty among the population, but as we see in examples, this method is not effective to some extent. It is not by chance that Mark Tullius Cicero said: “in the affairs of the state nothing cruel is useful”.
Bibliographic list
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