China hints at death penalty reform

China hinted at reform of the death penalty on Wednesday in a supreme court report to parliament that also touched issues ranging from corruption to social order in the face of rapid change, reports Xinhua.

"The Supreme People's Court will ... further perfect second-instance judgments for criminal cases and death penalty review procedures," Chief Justice Xiao Yang said on Wednesday.

The top court relinquished the power of final review in death penalty cases to lower courts during a crime-fighting campaign in the 1980s. 

The lower courts have been criticised for lack of professionalism and consistency in meting out the death penalty, but some have been reluctant to relinquish the power.

Officials say the move would simplify an irregular process and some estimates say it could quickly reduce the number of executions by 30 percent, said Xinhua.

An unidentified supreme court official said in the Beijing News last week the court was likely to take back the right to review death penalty sentences next year.

To handle the extra work load, the central government suggested the top court consider setting up a special death penalty review tribunal.

Currently, 68 crimes can merit the death penalty in China and most are non-violent. Experts had called for a "kill fewer, kill carefully" policy towards suspects of non-violent crimes, state media said in August.

In a second report to parliament on Wednesday, China's top prosecutor, Jia Chunwang, said more than 800,000 people were arrested for corruption last year.

Tens of thousands had been convicted in cases of embezzlement or dereliction of duty, avoiding potential economic losses of an estimated 4.56 billion yuan ($551 million), Jia said.