A Study On Some Legal Issues In The Reform Of Death Penalty System In China

As the most severe punishment, death penalty which plays an irreplaceable role in social stability and suppression of crime has been paid much attention by rulers for thousands of years. People began to rationally re-examine the issue of the death penalty until the masterpiece "On Crimes and Punishment" was published which lead to debate on the abolition of death Penalty. After World War II, with the gradual development of international human rights movement, all countries have raised the banner of the abolition of the death penalty and abolitionist movement expands in full swing in the international community. The United Nations, as a pioneer, issuing a number of human rights conventions from its initial laissez-faire to limit and then to clear the abolition of the death penalty provide a great impetus for all countries.In recent years, China has made significant progress in reforming the death penalty system in the global trend to limit and abolish the death penalty. It is prominent in three respects:"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights", "Criminal Law Amendment (9)" in which 13 kinds of non-violent economic crimes death penalty were deleted and "Criminal Procedure Law" in which the legitimate rights and interests of the defendant was strengthened in the death penalty review process. All these indicate that China is trying to achieve convergence with international conventions, give greater respect and protect ion of human rights, and strive to be a civilized country.This article will study the debate on abolition of death penalty and the attitude of today’s international human rights conventions, in order to explore the ethical basis affecting the abolition of death penalty; analysis the realistic basis about our country’s human rights reform in the framework of international conventions and envisage how to reform the death penalty system in our country.It consists of five parts in this thesis:The first part discussed the concept of the death penalty and analyzed the two schools of thought in order to reveal the focus of debate is whether the death penalty has its own value. From above, we can conclude that only adhere to the theory of human rights, those who support the death penalty can prove the death penalty has no value to exist.The second part regards the attitude of the international human rights conventions towards the death penalty as the research object. The attitude of the United Nations from restriction at the beginning to clear abolition greatly promotes the abolition of capital punishment. More and more countries abolish the death penalty due to the constraint of international regulations and the abolition of the death penalty has become an international trend and international consensus. At the same time, this chapter analyzes how our country can learn from international human rights conventions.Part III analyzes the ethical basis affecting the abolition of death penalty. From Beccaria’s natural rights, Bentham’s utilitarianism, Filet’s positivism to human rights which gradually grow after World War II, all of these provide a favorable theoretical support. Human rights theory can be especially treated as the cornerstone of the abolition of death penalty because even those people who support death penalty are also based on the recognition that the life of victims are supreme and then to judge the deprivation of criminal s’life relatively.The fourth part describes the realistic basis under the framework of international conventions of human rights reform. Since the abolition of death penalty has become an international consensus, then reform the death penalty system is not only related to our country’s international image and international exchange, but also the requirement of China in line with international treaties and practice. Meanwhile, Chinese recent death penalty laws, policies and practices also imply China should actively follow the international trend and reform under the framework of international human rights conventions.Part V explores the reform measures under the framework of international conventions. I will propose from four aspects:legislation, law enforcement, judiciary and compliance. This is also the creative achievements of this paper.