China
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- communist state
- CONSTITUTION
- December 4, 1982, amended several times, last in 2004.
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on civil law, of Soviet derivation and derived from the legal principles of the continental civil code
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, National People's Congress (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme People's Court, judges appointed by the National People's Congress; local people's courts and special people's courts
RELIGIONS
Buddhists 18.2%, Christians 5.1%, Muslims 1.8%, others 0.7%, unspecified 52.2%
From the country
- APRIL 7, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH SENTENCE WITH REPRIEVE IN GUN MAKING AND TRAFFICKING CASE
a court in Haikou, sentenced Li Pingsheng, 30, to death with two years reprieve for making and trafficking 33 guns. Li refitted and produced revolvers and other types of pistols for illegal profits.
- APRIL 6, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH SENTENCE UPHOLDED FOR FORMER PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION GROUP DIRECTOR
the Liaoning Provincial Higher People's Court ‘recently’ upheld the death sentence passed to Xia Renfan, 56-year-old former president of Shenyang Passenger Transportation Group Co, for corruption, embezzlement of public funds and bribery.
- APRIL 5, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. COUNTRY EXECUTES NINE TIMES MORE PEOPLE THAN REST OF WORLD, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
China accounted for about 90 percent of the 3,797 legally sanctioned executions in 25 countries across the world in 2004, the human rights group Amnesty International said, warning that most of those executed did not have fair trials.
- APRIL 4, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TIBET COURT GIVES DEATH SENTENCE WITH REPRIEVE FOR FUR AND SKIN SMUGGLING OF ENDANGERED SPECIES
the Lhasa City Intermediate People's Court sentenced three people to death with reprieve for smuggling the skins of 1,393 endangered species including the skins of Bangladesh tigers and 581 leopards.
- MARCH 31, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TOP GUANGZHOU HOSPITAL DOES ROARING TRADE IN EXECUTED PRISONER ORGANS, EDITORIAL
it was reported that the No. 1 and No. 3 Hospitals affiliated to the prestigious Sun Yat-sen University in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou was carrying out a lucrative trade in liver transplants using organs harvested from executed convicts.
- MARCH 30, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT. CHINA AND UNITED STATES URGED TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted in favour of the 2004 Annual Report on Human Rights. Simon Coveney MEP EPP-ED presented the report to the Committee as Rapporteur.
- MARCH 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
there are several aspects of particular concern in China...
there are several aspects of particular concern in China...
- MARCH 23, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SERIAL KILLER CONFESSES TO UP TO 45 MURDERS, DESERVES TO DIE, LAWYER
Wang Qiang, an accused serial killer in north-eastern China's Liaoning province, confessed to killing up to 45 people and deserves to be sentenced to death for his lack of remorse, his lawyer said.
- MARCH 23, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH PENALTY DEBATE 10 YEARS TOO LATE FOR NIE SHUBIN, EDITORIAL
- MARCH 20, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. STATE EXECUTES WITH ‘DEATH VANS’
the death van is an inconspicuous blue-and-white police vehicle that parks near the courtroom when its services are required by the Chinese judicial system. Inside it is fitted with a couch that can be raised or lowered like an operating table, set in the
- MARCH 16, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. BEIJING'S FORMER COMMUNICATION OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH 2-YEAR REPRIEVE
Bi Yuxi, the former deputy director of Beijing Communication Bureau, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes and embezzling state-owned assets in Beijing.
- MARCH 14, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA CANNOT ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY: WEN
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that China "cannot" abolish the death penalty due to the country's "national conditions," but outlined hoped for regulations on how the state imposes capital punishment.