Procedural Validity of a Death Penalty

The requirement of the procedural validity of a death penalty is harsher than that of other criminal sanctions. So a more rigorous procedure is required to impose a death sentence and the condemned criminal is given more rights to plead. In view of the trial procedure, access to justice and standards of proof, the Civil Rights and Political Rights International Convention and the Measures for Protection of the Rights of Prisoners Condemned to the Death Penalty have prescribed the minimum standards of procedural validity of a death penalty. In reference to the standards and in respect of China’s legislations relevant to the death penalty and existing judicial system, some reform should be effected to separate the procedure into conviction and sentence. The judicial review and execution procedures should also be improved. Further, we should distinguish the criteria to prove whether it is a death crime and reinforce the protection of the rights of a condemned criminal.