ISSN: 2573-1734
Authors: Rich Shawn and Jiang Na*
The issue of the abolition or retention of the death penalty has recently garnered extensive attention from both the public and the scholarly community. This study elucidates three principal factors shaping China's death penalty policy: Firstly, public opinion, manifested as a sociocultural legacy, generally endorses the severity of capital punishment; secondly, the impact of Western modern conceptions of the death penalty challenges traditional Chinese perspectives, primarily through a reevaluation of individual rights and human dignity; and thirdly, international human rights paradigms are influencing domestic legislative policies in China, indicating a gradual alignment with global human rights norms. Upon comprehensive analysis, it can be concluded that while there exists some degree of legitimacy in China's death penalty policy, the country is currently trending towards a more judicious application of capital punishment under the composite influence of the aforementioned dimensions. This trend reflects a profound shift in underlying values and legal culture. Therefore, it is foreseeable that China may progress along the path of incremental abolition of the death penalty in the future.
Keywords: Retention; Death Penalty; Punishment; Jurisdictions
