human dignity.” The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions has stated the same. Chinese Law The politics of punishment in China have influenced the use of the death penalty. The introduction of a policy of ‘balancing severity and leniency’ and the notion of ‘kill fewer, kill cautiously’ in the mid2000s were important in reducing the number of executions. Led by a number of reformists, including the then SPC president Xiao Yang, the policy signalled a move away from previous ‘strike hard’ anticrime campaigns and emphasised a more humane approach to criminal justice. Xiao Yang, and other SPC reformers, encouraged the lower courts to ‘kill fewer’ and strictly control the use of the death penalty. In a speech at the Fifth National Conference on Criminal Trial Work on 6 November, 2006, Xiao Yang emphasised that the death penalty should only be used as a last resort, in order to avoid wrongful executions.11 He also encouraged the lower courts to use the alternative: the sentence of sihuan, two-year suspension of the death penalty, if there are relevant mitigating circumstances, and judicial discretion for cases originating in domestic, neighbourhood, or other similar disputes, and where the victim was at least partly at fault. The politics of punishment in China have influenced the use of the death penalty. In 2007, the SPC took back its power to review all death sentences with immediate execution, along with an order that stated that it should be reserved for only an extremely small number of serious offenders.12 Certain crimes of passion, associated with family disputes, and economic crimes should not result in the death penalty. This has been widely seen as a significant factor in reducing the number of executions. Lawyers and legal scholars observe that, nowadays, death sentences are most likely to be given for intentional killing and drug-related offences. Revisions to the criminal law have reduced the number of death penalty eligible crimes to 46 in total. In 2011, 13 capital crimes were removed, bringing the number from 68 to 55. In 2015, a further amendment reduced the number of capital crimes from 55 to 46. Many of the offences which no longer attract the death penalty are non-violent crimes, such as economic offences, for which the death penalty was rarely given. The removal of many non-violent offences from the list eligible for the death penalty in 2015 suggests not only an intention to reduce the scope of the death penalty, but also to reduce its use for non-violent crime. However, subsequent amendments to the Criminal Law in 2017 and another proposed in 2020, but not yet passed, do not make any changes to the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty or in relation to sentencing. China continues to have a number of non-violent capital offences, notably drug-related, as well as ‘white-collar’ crimes, including embezzlement and taking bribes. 11 Shi, Ting. ‘Courts to ease up on death penalties.’ South China Morning Post. 10 November, 2006. https://www.scmp.com/article/571039/courts-ease-death-penalties 12 ‘Chief Justice Vows 'Extreme Caution' in Death Penalty Cases.’ China Daily. 15 March, 2007. http://www.bjreview.com.cn/lianghui/txt/2007-03/15/content_59294.htm. Accessed 6 October, 2020. 12