Abstract
Our discussion about the central place of policy in the life of the death penalty in contemporary China makes it clear that choosing life over death in capital cases is a political and a legal decision. in this chapter, we focus on the legal dimensions, in particular, the legal considerations that inform the interpretive space of sentencing deliberations in capital cases. In the mid-2000s, sihuan, the two-year reprieve from execution, became the crucial dynamic in the narrative and practice of controlling death penalty in China. It offered reformers the best opportunity yet to institutionalize the principle of “kill fewer, kill cautiously.” It provided judges an ideal alternative to setting immediate execution as the automatic “default” choice in capital case sentencing, especially for violent crimes that began as domestic or neighborhood disputes.
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