Reconsideration of Convictions The move away from ‘strike hard’ anti-crime campaigns, the promotion of the suspended death sentence and the involvement of the SPC in reviewing death sentences have had a demonstrable impact on the ability of the Chinese justice system to reconsider convictions and death sentences with immediate execution. The Chinese authorities recognise that miscarriage of justice cases, particularly involving wrongful executions, undermine public confidence in the legitimacy of the death penalty and the criminal justice system more generally. Nevertheless, research shows that there are significant institutional obstacles in the form of bureaucratic and political opposition to the review of verdicts in serious criminal cases. There is a reluctance to overturn prior decisions particularly where there are high levels of public interest in a case. We have observed numerous cases where convictions that appear unsound are ‘resolved’ through lighter sentencing rather than a through reconsideration of the conviction. While persistent lawyers may eventually secure a retrial, preferably under the jurisdiction of another province, many prisoners are likely to remain incarcerated under a suspended sentence of death. Xiong and Miao’s research indicates that it can take ten years or more for determination of a wrongful conviction.28 Zhang Yuhuan was cleared of the murder of two young boys in August 2020 after 27 years in prison. He had been arrested in 1993 in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, and sentenced to the suspended death sentence in the final trial at the higher court in 2001. He had no lawyer representing him at the final trial stage. Jiangxi Higher People’s Court opened the case for review in 2018 and found him not guilty at his appeal in 2020 stating that the evidence had been insufficient to prove his guilt and he had given contradictory confessions. He had claimed that he had been subjected to severe torture, including being attacked by dogs, to force him to confess. Public interest lawyers worked on his appeal. They felt that as he had only been given a suspended sentence, rather than death penalty with immediate execution, for the crime of intentional killing two children, this suggested there had been doubts over his guilt at the time of sentencing. Jiangxi Higher People’s Court gave the overturning of the conviction as an example of Xi Jinping’s work to strengthen the legal system and correct miscarriages of justice. 28 Xiong, Moulin, and Miao, Michelle. ‘Miscarriage of Justice in Capital Cases in China’. Hastings International & Comparative Law Review, 273-342. 2018. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3040537. 32