Capital offences in China
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In Mainland China, there are 46[1] criminal offenses eligible for the death penalty.[2][3] These are defined in the criminal law of China, which comprehensively identifies criminal acts and their corresponding liabilities.[4]
A 2011 amendment to this law for the purpose of legal provisions improvement reduced the number of capital crimes by 19.1% and gave more lenient punishments to minors and the elderly (75 years old and above).[4]
In 2015, the criminal code was amended to remove nine capital offenses:[5][6][7][8]
- Smuggling weapons or ammunition
- Smuggling nuclear materials
- Smuggling counterfeit money
- Counterfeiting
- Investment fraud/fraudulent fundraising.
- Organizing prostitution
- Forcing prostitution
- Obstructing military affairs
- Spreading rumors and undermining morale during wartime.
List of capital offenses[]
Crimes Endangering National Security[]
Endangering national security is among the crime categories included in the 1997 revision of China's criminal code.[9] It comprises Articles 102 to 113 of the 1997 Criminal Law and imposes the confiscation of property as a supplementary penalty.[10] The crimes included are:
- Treason
- Separatism
- Armed rebellion, rioting
- Collaborating with the enemy
- Spying or espionage
- Selling state secrets
- Providing material support to the enemy
Crimes Endangering Public Security[]
- Arson
- Flooding
- Manslaughter
- Bombing
- Spreading poisons
- Spreading hazardous substances (e.g., radioactive, toxic, pathogenic)
- Seriously endangering public safety, broadly construed
- Sabotaging electricity
- Sabotaging gas, fuel, petroleum, or other flammables or explosives
- Hijacking aircraft
- Illegal possession, transport or selling of explosives or firearms
- Illegally manufacturing, selling, transporting or storing hazardous materials
- Theft of explosives or other dangerous material
- Theft of firearms, ammunition or other dangerous material
Economic crimes[]
- Production or sale of counterfeit medicine
- Production or sale of hazardous food products
Crimes against people[]
- Intentional homicide
- Intentional assault
- Rape
- Kidnapping
- Human trafficking
Crimes against property[]
- Robbery
Crimes against public order[]
- Prison escape, jailbreaking
- Raiding a prison
- Smuggling, dealing, transporting or manufacturing drugs
Crimes against national defense[]
- Sabotaging weapons, military installations, or military communications
- Providing substandard weapons or military installations
Corruption and bribery[]
- Embezzlement
Breach of duty by soldiers[]
- Insubordination
- Concealment or false reporting of military intelligence
- Refusing to pass or falsely passing orders
- Surrender
- Defection with aircraft or ships
- Selling military secrets
- Theft of military weaponry or supplies
- Illegally selling or transferring military weaponry or supplies
- Killing innocent inhabitants of war zones or plundering their property
- Cowardice
References[]
- ^ "China media: Death penalty". BBC News. 2014-10-28. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ "China says death penalty to be used only for 'serious offenders'". Asahi Shimbun. The Associated Press. 2016-09-12. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ 立行, ed. (2015-08-29). "中国刑法再次修正取消9个死刑罪名". BBC中文网 (BBC Chinese) (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ a b Wang, Nathan; Madison, Nathan (2013). Inside China's Legal System. Oxford: Chandos Publishing. p. 311. ISBN 9780857094605.
- ^ "China: Death Penalty Crimes to Be Further Reduced". Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Van Sant, Shannon. "China Reduces Number of Crimes Punishable by Death". Voice of America. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Daum, Jeremy. "It's a crime, I tell ya: Major Changes in China's Criminal Law Amendment 9". China Law Translate. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Plaçais, Aurélie. "China reduces the number of crimes punishable by death to 46, but keep drug trafficking in the list". World Coalition against the Death Penalty. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Lu, Hong; Miethe, Terance (2007). China's Death Penalty: History, Law and Contemporary Practices. New York: Routledge. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0415955690.
- ^ Young, Simon (2009). Civil Forfeiture of Criminal Property: Legal Measures for Targeting the Proceeds of Crime. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 259. ISBN 9781847208262.
Further reading[]
- LU Hong (2008-11-05). "China's Death Penalty: Reforms on Capital Punishment (EAI Background Brief No. 412" (PDF). East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-15.
External links[]
- Capital punishment in China