The Rights Practice Briefing Paper Use of Death Penalty in China: Sentencing October 2021 This briefing paper sets out the law and approach to sentencing for death penalty eligible crimes in the People’s Republic of China. This note is for general information purposes only and nothing contained in the note is intended to provide legal or other professional advice. Our report, “Respect for Minimum Standards?”1 described the application of the death penalty in China and concluded that there is a high risk of arbitrary execution from the failure to comply with international standards. Key Points: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ A death sentence in China will either be pronounced with immediate execution or with a twoyear suspension. A suspended death sentence is generally commuted to a fixed term after two years, but some restrictions on commutation have recently been introduced. Available evidence indicates that a significant majority of the executions carried out by China are for murder and drug crime. Suspended death sentences are subject to less rigorous review procedures than death sentences with immediate execution. There are risks that the sentence is associated with unsafe convictions. Some publicly announced death sentences appear politically motivated. The number of death sentences and executions each year in China is not known; secrecy limits fair trial rights, research and public understanding of the death penalty. Immediate execution and suspended death sentences The death sentence in China may be given with notice of immediate execution or suspended for two years. There are now three types of suspended death sentences: a suspended death sentence; suspended death sentence with restricted possibility for parole or commutation; and a suspended death sentence with no possibility for commutation. This briefing note sets out the differences in these death sentences and the range of factors that may be considered at sentencing. Increased use of the suspended death sentence has reduced the number of executions in China. The Rights Practice, however, has concerns that the two-year suspended death sentence is associated with a higher risk of miscarriages of justice. Death sentences with immediate execution are reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court whereas suspended death sentences are appealed and reviewed by the Higher People’s Court at the provincial level. News that several leading Uyghur intellectuals and officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have been given death sentences with two-year suspension for the offence of separatism suggests that the use of the suspended death sentence can 1 The Rights Practice, “Respect for Minimum Standards? Report on the Death Penalty in China” October 2020. https://www.rights-practice.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=2a885eaf-8f27-4180-9cd0-20344ad47f50 1