Research On The Mechanism About Exemption From Death Penalty And Commutation In Autumn Trial In The Qing Dynasty

The research of the mechanism about exemption from death penalty and commutation in the autumn trial in the Qing Dynasty was based on the concrete steps to control execution and criterion for sentencing in the procedure,focused on the change from death to living,with a view to the contents like programming,operation,case type and significance.The effect on the control of the execution was also analyzed that most of the crimes would gain the chance of exemption and commutation which considered different crimes' traits.It played a key role in controlling the number of condemned criminals.The establishment and development of the existing system does not emerge in a vacuum.Based on the development of the commutation,classification of crimes and the establishment of procedure for review of death sentences,the mechanism about exemption from death penalty and commutation in the autumn trial developed into a controlling mechanism for death penalty through multiple ways under the guide of cautious punishment,Unity of Man and Nature and moderate punishment.The mechanism comprised of exemption and commutation and the first step is to distinguish the criminals not unto death.With the help of detailed results of autumn trail,the criminals not unto death were picked out and commuted according to various circumstances.At the beginning of the mechanism,complete operation basis was needed to ensure the stability and controllability of the program.The nature of the basis can be divided into three categories which are conventional basis,conventional supplement and unconventional basis.Regulations,provisions and practice of autumn trial,past cases and the principle of deliberation played an important role in the operation of the mechanism.They determined a series of things like the scope,range and following progress and a standard to classify the criminals.The specialty of forgiveness based on temporary presence only worked in specific circumstances.The difference between the conventional basis and the unconventional basis is that the former has the characteristics of system and predictability,or it can be regarded as the legal procedure of the death penalty cases,while the latter has more flexibility and randomness,and the form of the emperor's temporary imperial edict is inevitably unpredictable.Though both of them were under the premise of confirming sentencing,the former denied the necessity of capital punishment and the latter did not object to it.It just stopped it when external factors made the deprivation of life inappropriate.With the overall attention to the operating procedure,the effect of the special regimes of the autumn trail on the mechanism should also be paid attention to.The autumn trial cases were divided into three volumes respectively as official offenders,obedient offenders and recidivists.Although the three parts go through the same procedure,the measures and the power were different because of the different identities.There was a certain correlation between the implementation of the mechanism about exemption and commutation and the types of cases.And it was not simple one-to-one corresponding relations that the number of condemned criminals wouldn't increase,though the case was set down.In addition to the system guarantee,those officials who played a vital role in the operation called “Siyan”.In the course of the autumn trial,the judicial officials of different levels did various decisions because of different references,unlike understanding of the law and policy and even the entanglement of the interests.As the original judge of the autumn trial,the local justices and governors' judgement were taken seriously and questioned by the national leadership.The commutation not only referred to the cases and the lives of the criminals,but also closely related to principles of the officialdom.The decision was in the hand of the emperor and his understanding were binding upon the officials.The emperor got deeply involved in the operation,oversaw the officials and display the royal power which showed his kindness and cruelty.The effect of mechanism in judicial practice should be discussed with the proportion of exemptions and the effect of commutations.To convert the death penalty to living penalty must be based on the proper commutation of the death penalty.And on the basis of the previous generation,the Qing Dynasty developed two ways of commutation as exile and life imprisonment which is special for breaking through the tradition.Furthermore,by empirical analysis,the results of the mechanism about exemption from death penalty and commutation in the autumn trial of Qianlong,Daoguang and other representative dynasties are presented and analyzed.It had a remarkable effect on controlling the number of condemned criminals.Based on the principle of separating the execution from the crime of the death penalty,the concession mechanism would adjust sentencing to replace the execution of the death penalty on the basis of not changing the conviction.Besides,using the existing penalty measures flexibly and promoting the exemption to meet the needs of judicial practice were also significant to ensure the matching rate and rationality between the reduction and penalty and prevent the fairness and appropriateness of thesentencing in the Qing Dynasty with a basic of reducing the number of executions.Further,the essential of the exemption and commutation was the embodiment of traditional sentencing techniques.According to the actual circumstance,the adjustment could not only set up the deterrent of the punishment,but also show the emperor's leniency through the transformation of the results.Punishment made people fear and concession made people appreciate,the inborn capability of adjusting the penalty intensity and form was the main difference from normal criminal law.Under the tone of judicial control instead of legislative control,with the help of developments of the procedure,the concession mechanisms in the autumn trial shunted death penalty cases and controlled the final step of the execution to directly reduced the number.It was influenced by the past and experienced self-transforming.Its superiority also reflected in the low cost,quick return and few influences on other laws.It controlled through the confirmation of execution,had no direct influence to the earlier stage of procedure and much interference with the application of existing legal system.The mechanism is not only a measure to limit the death,but also the adjustment of the punishment,which can help to realize the pursuit of substantive justice in individual cases.It reflects the progress of the development of traditional punishment and provides useful experience to the improvement of modern death penalty control measures.