Representative Christopher H. Smith, Chair
Senator Jeff Merkley, Cochair
Chinese Expert: Supreme People's Court Has Already Decided to Take Back the Power of Death Penalty Review
November 22, 2004
A November 18 article in the China Youth Daily, citing criminal law expert Chen Renhua, reports that the Supreme People’s Court has already decided to take back the power of death penalty review in all cases and is now discussing how establish special review panels to examine the cases. Although the PRC Criminal Procedure Law and Criminal Law state that the SPC shall review all death sentences, in the 1980s, the SPC delegated this power to provincial high people’s courts for cases involving murder, rape, and several other crimes.