Death penalty appeals will be heard in open court from tomorrow,
top justice Xiao Yang told a national seminar on
Thursday.
"The whole court procedure when hearing death sentence trials in
the second instance should be video and sound recorded," he told
presidents from the high people's courts of China's 31 provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions.
The move is designed to "ensure justice and avoid deficient
verdicts."
Currently, municipal-level intermediate people's courts have the
right to impose the death sentence after an initial trial; appeals
are heard by provincial-level high people's courts.
"Appeals are key in ensuring a just verdict," said Xiao,
president of the Supreme People's Court.
He forbade all high people's courts from seeking the opinion of
the Supreme People's Court when hearing death penalty appeals,
except for requests related to the application of the law.
"All high people's courts must make their judgments
independently," said Xiao.
In east China's Jiangsu Province, the provincial people's
court has trained 15 experienced judges to hold public hearings on
death penalty appeals.
According to Xue Jianxiang, chief judge of the First Criminal
Court of the High People's Court, feedback will be given to a court
after an initial trial if its decision is regarded as
inappropriate.
To hear death penalty appeals in open session is only one step
in making judges more cautious about delivering the death penalty,
as well as ensuring their decisions are just and well grounded.
The Supreme People's Court has decided to withdraw its power to
re-examine all death penalty verdicts and give the final nod to
execution. But no timetable has yet been given for it to rescind
its rights.
The nation's top court currently reviews and makes final
decisions on certain capital cases, including economic crimes, but
gives sentencing power for violent offences, such as murder and
arson, to provincial-level high people's courts.
Three new criminal tribunals under the Supreme People's Court in
April began to review death sentences handed down by
provincial-level high people's courts.
They do not yet formally have the right to make final decisions
on death sentences.
In another development, the country's procuratorial departments
investigated 9,633 officials above county level who were involved
in crimes over the past three years, according to the 12th national
procuratorial work conference, held yesterday in Beijng.
Another 4,024 cases involving corruption and embezzlement
topping 1 million yuan (US$120,000) were resolved.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2006)