Death with reprieve (, abbr.: ) is a
criminal punishment
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
found in the
law of the People's Republic of China
The Law of the People's Republic of China, officially referred to as the Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, is the legal regime of China, with the separate legal traditions and systems of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
...
. According to the criminal law chapter 5 (death penalty), sections 48, 50 and 51, it gives the
death row inmate a two-year
suspended sentence of the execution. The convicted person will be executed if found to have committed further crimes during the two years following the sentence; otherwise, the sentence is automatically reduced to
life imprisonment or a fixed-term imprisonment if the person is found to have performed deeds of merit during the two years.
Unlike
pardon (clemency), in which the relief of the penalty is decided after the death penalty has been pronounced, reprieve is pronounced directly in place of the death sentence to the prisoner who has committed the potentially capital crime.
Chinese courts hand down this form of sentencing as frequently as, or more often than,
actual death sentences. This unique sentence is used to emphasize the seriousness of the crime and the mercy of the court, and has a centuries-old history in Chinese jurisprudence.
Scholars reported that in the context of the post-2007 death penalty reform in China, a considerable number of prisoners who would previous be subject to the death penalty by immediate execution have been diverted to the suspended death penalty regime.
After ''The Amendment (IX) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China'' in 2015, courts may act according to the circumstances for criminals charged with bribery or "plundering the public treasury", possibly issuing a sentence without the possibility of a reduction to fixed-term imprisonment or of parole when the sentence was automatically reduced to life imprisonment (such as
Bai Enpei
Bai Enpei (; born 8 September 1946) is a former Chinese politician convicted of corruption. Bai served as the Chinese Communist Party Deputy Committee Secretary of Inner Mongolia between 1993 and 1997, Governor and later Party Secretary of Qingha ...
).
Thus, once the two-year suspension of execution has expired, a sentence of "death with reprieve without commutation or parole" will automatically be reduced to life imprisonment regardless of any deeds of merit performed during the two years, meaning the offender will spend the rest of their life in prison.
See also
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Capital offences in China
In Mainland China, there are 46 crimes punishable by death. These are defined in the criminal law of China, which comprehensively identifies criminal acts and their corresponding liabilities.
A 2011 amendment to this law for the purpose of le ...
*
Reprieve
References
{{China national security
Chinese law
Capital punishment in China
de:Todesstrafe#Volksrepublik China