Death penalty review

The death penalty review procedure is a special trial procedure followed by the people's court to review and approve death penalty cases. The death penalty is a punishment that deprives criminals of their lives. It is the most severe of the various types of punishment stipulated in the Criminal Law and is called the capital punishment.

After the death penalty review power is recovered, the death penalty review procedure should be designed and improved according to the rules of litigation. Although it is different from the first instance and second instance procedures, it can be transformed into litigation. The following two methods can be adopted according to the circumstances of the case:

First, for first instance case where the death penalty is imposed, if the defendant does not appeal and the people's procuratorate does not protest, or an appeal or protest is filed, but it is just for legal application or procedural issues instead of fact finding issues, the court can adopt a non-open court trial; but even if the non-open court trial must still include reviewing written files, questioning the defendant, and listening to the opinions of the public prosecutor and the defense counsel;

Second, for cases where the defendant appeals or the procuratorate protests after the death penalty is imposed at the first instance, and the case is filed against fact finding, the court should adopt an open court trial, that is, at a specified time, the procuratorate, the defendant, the defense counsel and other litigation participants who must participate in the review procedure. In terms of operation, it can be conducted in two ways: face-to-face direct trial and remote trial via the Internet. The implementation of open trial can ensure that both the prosecution and the defense can effectively participate in the trial process, especially the defense can have the opportunity to fully exercise the right to defense, and it is also convenient for the procuratorate to exercise effective legal supervision over the court's trial activities. Regardless of the trial method, it should be heard by a collegial panel composed of more than 3 judges. For difficult, complex and major cases, the collegial panel can request the trial committee to open a trial.