Research On Effective Defense In Death Penalty Review Procedure

The death penalty review procedure is a special procedure for the Supreme People’s Court to review and approve criminal cases that have been sentenced to death.It bears the important task of unifying the standards for the application of death penalty and accurately punishing criminals sentenced to death.Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,the death penalty review procedure has undergone many reforms and been improved day by day.However,the occurrence of unjust,false and erroneous cases such as Nie Shubin’s case and Teng Xingshan’s case has questioned its system and mechanism,especially the problem that the defendant cannot obtain effective defense from lawyers has been criticized by all parties for a long time.The concept of effective defense originated from the right to defense clause of the sixth Amendment of the U.S.Constitution in 1791.Although the specific definition of effective defense is still controversial at present,there is no doubt that it is necessary to implement the concept of effective defense in the process of death penalty review.The realization of the effective defense of the death penalty review procedure is of indispensable significance in the implementation of the death penalty policy,the protection of the legal rights and interests of the accused,and the improvement of judicial credibility.And it is worth affirming that with the development of judicial concept,the improvement of legal system and the improvement of economic level,the death penalty review procedure is not far from the realization of effective defense.But through the observation of the death penalty review procedure that lawyers practice situation,found that although the death penalty review procedure in the absence of legal aid,a lawyer’s professional quality is not subject to protection,lawyers counsel position from the recognition problem is successively solved,but the lawyer in the process of participation in the death penalty review procedure is still many problems,hinder the realization of effective defense.First,the administrative examination and approval mode of the death penalty review procedure hinders the effective play of the role of lawyers.Secondly,defense lawyers still have difficulties in exercising procedural rights such as the right to express opinions,the right to meet and the right to read files.Finally,the absence of a system during the death penalty review process makes it impossible for defense lawyers to arrange their defense work reasonably.Through the research and analysis,it is expected that the preliminary breakthrough has been made in the effective defense of lawyers in the review procedure of death penalty.Firstly,it is suggested to promote the litigalization of the review procedure of death penalty and create a good operating environment for lawyers to fully participate in the review procedure of death penalty.Secondly,refine the relevant provisions on lawyers’ right of defense in the death penalty review procedure and improve the supporting mechanism to implement the procedural rights of defense lawyers.Thirdly,the system of death penalty review procedure period should be established to provide reference for lawyers to arrange defense work.Finally,a list system of defense lawyers for death penalty review cases and a defense quality supervision mechanism have been established to provide a strong guarantee for high-quality defense.System optimization is a continuous process,only by constantly improving the system design of death penalty review procedure,can the effectiveness of lawyers’ defense be effectively brought into play,and the purpose of punishing crimes and protecting human rights be realized.