Protection Of The Rights Of Defense Of The Death Penalty Review Procedure

By analyzing the trial system of our country, it is easy to find that the defendantdoes not have substantial right of defense, not to mention the right can be exercisedeffectively in the review stage of the death penalty before the Supreme People’s Courtwithdrew the right to review death penalty. After the Supreme People’s Courtwithdrew the right to review death penalty, our legislature starts to perfect theprocedure of reviewing death penalty, try to give the defendant the right to defenseand protect it. According to the new Law of Criminal Procedure, the procedure ofreviewing death penalty has been basically procedural corrected. Though get progressthe procedure still has some shortages. These questions need to be further researched,for example, the law haven’t stipulated that how do lawyers join in the procedure; thelawyers’ rights, how do they exercise the rights and how to protect the rights wheninfringed and whether the legal aid and the court trial can be applied in the procedure.The procedure of reviewing death penalty includes the reviewing procedure of casesof immediate implementation of death sentence and postponed death sentence.Though the subjects of reviewing are different, the law principles in the twoprocedures are same. Therefore, this paper focuses on the reviewing procedure ofcases of immediate implementation of death sentence while the results can also beapplied in the cases of postponed death sentence.This paper will research the protection of the right to defense in the procedure of reviewing death penalty based on the problems and cases of the procedure after thenew Law of Criminal Procedure’s enforcement in order to promote the protection ofthe right to defense. The paper is divided into four chapters.The first chapter mainly combs the theory of the procedure of reviewing deathpenalty. Firstly, combs the disputes about the nature of the procedure combined withthe judicial reform and confirms the nature because the nature is very important whichdecides the structure and the running mode of the procedure. Secondly, discusses thelegal basis of perfecting the right to defense in the procedure on the basis of the nature.Lastly, points out the particularity of the right to defense in the procedure ofreviewing death penalty.The second chapter mainly discusses the current situation and reasons ofexercising the right to defense in the procedure of reviewing death penalty at presentand analyses the main reasons of the problems in operation combined with cases ofreviewing death penalty after the new Law of Criminal Procedure’s enforcement.The third chapter mainly analyses the change brought by the new Law ofCriminal Procedure’s amendment from the progress and shortages.The fourth chapter is mainly about the improvement of the right to defense in theprocedure of reviewing death penalty which is the paper’s key point. This chapter’scontent is mainly like below. Firstly, the defendants were protected from the aspectsof self-defense and the right to counsel, focusing on concrete measures to exercisethe right to a defense lawyer to protect; Secondly, from the physical protectionmeasures and procedural safeguards put forward supporting measures to improve theprotection of the right to defense.