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The Supreme People's Court will send back cases to provincial courts for retrial if it evaluates that a death sentence has been passed without proper evidence or in violation of procedures.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC), which has been reviewing all death sentences in the country since January 1, has made it clear it would not ratify the capital punishment order if it detects an error in the provincial court's judgment or considers the penalty to be too heavy.

A regulation of the apex court that came into force yesterday said that though generally it would change the original order, it would urge the provincial courts to retry the case more carefully.

"By ordering retrials, the new regulation will guarantee that death sentences are handed out with extreme caution and improve the efficiency of the SPC's reviews," the apex court said on its website.

Some details of the review process have been spelt out on the website. For instance, a bench of three judges will review each case. The judges will have to check the facts, the laws applied and criminal procedures adopted. Any testimony extracted through illegal means will be declared invalid.

If the case is very complicated or the facts in doubt then the judges can visit the spot of the crime to check details.

"We must make sure the death penalty is handed down only to a small number of offenders, and every judgment must stand the test of time," SPC President Xiao Yang said.

In 1983, the apex court granted the provincial courts the authority to pass death sentences for serious crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and the criminal use of explosives in a major crackdown on crime.

But many people have criticized the practice in recent years, especially after some highly publicized miscarriage of justice.

So to exercise stricter control over capital punishment, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, passed an amendment to the Organic Law on the People's Court in October, making it mandatory for death sentences to be reviewed by the apex court.

Mining safety

The SPC issued a joint regulation with the Supreme People's Procuratorate on mining safety, too.

The regulation clarifies that any accident in a workplace that kills more than one person or seriously injuries three or more, or causes direct loss of more than 1 million yuan ($130,000), will be categorized a "serious accident". People responsible for such accidents face a sentence of up to three years.

The regulation says officials who try to cover up workplace accidents could face criminal charges for "abuse of power" or "dereliction of duty".

(China Daily 03/01/2007 page2)