law - Death penalty curbed

After years of discussion China's legislators have decided to reduce the number of execution, one of the main issues in the human rights discussion concerning China. Now China's highest court has to confirm any death sentence. Now, those decision are made at a provincial level, allowing local authorities to carry out death sentences for crimes in some provinces that would be dealt with fines in others. Annually China executes thousands of people, although real numbers are hard to come by.
While this is certainly no abolishment of the capital punishment, it might be a first step towards that direction.

"It's great news. This is a big step forward for China's legal system and human rights," said Li Heping, a prominent activist lawyer.

"It's going to have a psychological effect on local judges when they are making decisions because they are going to be afraid that if they approve capital punishment, the supreme court will overrule them," Li said.