Sentence of life without parole: Proposal for the revision of Chinese criminal law in the context of the elimination of death penalty

Abstract

Death penalty has no alternative. Life without parole (LWOP) has been put forward to nullify the death penalty in China. Practically speaking, LWOP can satisfy the emotional demand of the public so as to nullify the death penalty. LWOP has strong rationales from both retributive and preventive perspectives. Actually, the relation between death penalty and LWOP is just a question, which should be at the top level punishment. Compared with death penalty, LWOP has other advantages such as lower cost burden and more practicability.