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China's top court now reviews all death sentences but it doesn't mean there will be lenience when it comes to dealing with serious crime.

Severe punishment will be meted out for terror and gang crimes and to those who jeopardize national security, warned Xiao Yang, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

From this year the SPC took back the power of reviewing all death penalties from lower courts.

In October the country's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee passed an amendment to the Organic Law of the People's Courts vesting such authority solely with the SPC.

"Unifying death penalty standards across the country is important for improving human rights and ensuring fair trials," Xiao told a conference of national higher court presidents in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province.

The SPC will also strengthen supervision over lower courts in death penalty cases, he said.

Figures released at the conference show that in the first 11 months of last year courts across the nation handled 593,020 criminal cases and sentenced 759,230 criminals. This is a year-on-year rise of 1.6 percent and 4.3 percent respectively. 

Of the convicts 276,479 committed serious violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping or participating in gang activities. The number sentenced to death wasn't revealed. More than 1,400 defendants were found not guilty and released.

To prepare for the reverting of the power of review the SPC last July ordered all provincial higher courts to hear death penalty appeals in open session to ensure justice and avoid improper verdicts.

Xiao said the nation would retain the death penalty but use it judiciously. "We should try to keep a balance between strictness and leniency," he said.

Those who plead guilty and provide important information leading to the capture of accomplices in a criminal case would receive lesser sentences, Xiao explained.

Courts should be especially cautious in imposing the death penalty in cases related to disputes among family members or neighbors, he added.

Cao Jianming, vice president of the SPC, said if Supreme Court judges find the evidence is inadequate or the litigation process improper when reviewing a death penalty they should submit the case to the SPC judicial committee. They would review the case with a representative of the Supreme People's Procuratorate in attendance.

Currently the SPC has five criminal tribunals, of which one is responsible for reviewing the death penalty for financial crimes and the other four a range of other crimes.

(China Daily January 8, 2007)