On the Application of Death Penalty to Elderly Offenders in China

Bing Zou

doi:10.5539/jpl.v5n2p140

Abstract

First of all, the value orientation manifested in the exemption of death penalty for senile criminals in The Eighth Amendments of the Criminal Law should be affirmed. It should also be clearly laid down in legislation rather than being handled dynamically by the judicial branch. The upper age limit to the application of death penalty should be set at 75 years old. Besides, in order to ensure the balance within the criminal law system, some supplementary limitations should be attached. However, the limitation ruling out the situation in which particularly cruel means are used to kill a person doesn’t seem so reasonable and needs to be further perfected.

Highlights

There has been a long-lasting debate on whether an upper age limit should be set to the application of death penalty in China
The affirmative side holds that, in order to restrict and reduce death penalty and make the criminal law more human-based, an upper age limit should be attached to death penalty in accordance with some ancient and present experiences home and abroad by taking into account the forgivability in the crimes committed by senile people
As for legislation, prior to the issuance of The Eighth Amendments of the Criminal Law, there had been no legislative document on a definite upper age limit to death penalty in China

Summary

Introduction

As for legislation, prior to the issuance of The Eighth Amendments of the Criminal Law, there had been no legislative document on a definite upper age limit to death penalty in China It was laid down clearly in Article 21 of On the Implementation of the Criminal Policy of Tempering Justice with Mercy that the motivation, purpose, circumstances, results and repentance of senile criminals should be taken into full consideration in the case of their crimes and lenient punishments should be given in accordance with the dangerousness they may cause and the likeliness for them to commit another crime. As for this new rule, more fierce debates have been evoked. (Zhao, 2010) Generally, two issues are worth further studies: first, from the theoretical perspective, should senile criminals be exempt from death penalty? Second, from the technical perspective, how can a scientific and reasonable upper age limit be set to www.ccsenet.org/jpl

The Theoretical Perspective

There are Diversified Bases for Limiting the Applicability of Death Penalty

The Purpose of Criminal Punishment Should be Taken into Consideration

Chinese Previous Experience Should be Based on

The Technical Perspective

It is Ideal to Set the Upper Age Limit at 75 Years Old