Research On The Limitation Of The Subject Of Death Penalty In China

With the deepening of the concept of international human rights and the supremacy of the right to life,the abolition of the death penalty has been adopted by many countries.However,as far as the current judicial situation in China is concerned,the time is now ripe for the abolition of the death penalty.The death penalty restriction theory is a good compromise.Limiting the application of the death penalty from the main body is an effective way.The international conventions clearly stipulate the prohibition of applying the death penalty to minors and pregnant women.The countries and regions that mainly retain the death penalty have provisions on the restrictions on the application of the death penalty for minors,pregnant women,the elderly and mental patients.It is clearly stated in our country that the death penalty is not applicable to women under the age of 18 who are pregnant at the trial and those who are 75 years of age or older and who do not die with special cruel means.Juveniles,pregnant women,the elderly,and mental patients with limited liability were compared in terms of legislative intent and legislative spirit.In terms of theoretical basis,the tolerance of punishment reflects the value of humanitarianism and requires strict restrictions on the application of the death penalty.The modest nature of criminal law requires the use of penalties to embody the principle of benefit,and to maximize the benefits at the lowest cost to produce a positive effect.The restrictions on the death penalty need to be adapted to the special prevention of punishment.The criminal policy of combining leniency and strictness limits the application of the death penalty from the perspective of general criminal policy,while the criminal policy of “less killing and cautious killing” is the basis of special criminal policy.Based on the above discussion,combined with the current situation and deficiencies of China’s legislation,we can further restrict the application of the death penalty subject in China from the following aspects: In the case of the elderly,the age at which the death penalty is not applied is changed from "75 years old" to "70 years old",and remove the exception to “death in a particularly cruel way”.In the case of juvenile delinquency,it is recommended that the death penalty be imposed on young people who are 18 years of age or younger and under 21 years of age.For pregnant women,expand the scope of “time of trial”.At the same time,new objects that do not apply to the death penalty,including newborn mothers,blind deaf and other physically impaired persons,and those who are not intentionally drunk,are added.