CHINA. SUPREME COURT TO RECLAIM DEATH PENALTY REVIEW RIGHT FROM LOWER TRIBUNALS

China's Supreme Court will no longer permit provincial courts to review death sentences so as to ensure that capital punishment is meted out meticulously and fairly, Chief Justice Xiao Yang, also president of the Supreme People's Court, said.
"The death sentence is the most serious level of penalty for criminals. It is reserved for felons guilty of the most atrocious crimes," Xiao said at a legislative hearing on court work.
China still practices capital punishment as a deterrent to preserve social stability, but "as few executions as possible should be carried out and as cautiously as possible, in order to avoid wrongful executions," the top judge said. Review of the death penalty is a special procedure in Chinese criminal law to "ensure that death sentences are justified and appropriate".