The top legislature began on Friday deliberating a draft
amendment to the law on the country's court system, in an effort to
restrict the power of provincial courts in issuing death
sentences.??
Once pronounced by provincial courts, all death penalties must
be reviewed and ratified by the Supreme People's Court (SPC),
according to the draft amendment to the country's law on the
people's courts.??
The draft, tabled to the 24th session of the Standing Committee
of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) for the first reading,
is supposed to come into effect on January 1, 2007, with
legislative approval.??
The SPC had been responsible for reviewing all death penalty
cases till 1983 when parts of the final review authority were
decentralized to provincial courts amidst a major crime
crackdown.??
However, practices by provincial courts relating to death
sentence appeals and final judgment both have long been criticized
for leading to miscarriages of justice. This prompted the SPC to
announce plans to resume its judicial authority last year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2006)