Chinese convicts are sentenced to death in Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court. China's top judge has urged the nation's courts to avoid passing death sentences. (File Photo)   Nov. 9 - China's top judge has urged the nation's courts to avoid passing death sentences, except in an "extremely small" number of cases, state media has reported.

 

"In cases where the judge has legal leeway to decide whether to order death, he should always choose not to do so," said Xiao Yang, president of China's highest court, in comments quoted by Xinhua news agency.

 

China has long officially urged judicious use of the death penalty in its courts, but the renewed call follows the national legislature's decision last week to require that all lower-court capital sentences be reviewed by Xiao's Supreme People's Court.

 

The change was aimed at cutting down miscarriages of justice and was applauded by legal experts overseas.

 

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the conditions were not yet right to abolish the death penalty.

 

"Half of the countries in the world still have the death penalty system, China is one of them. Judging the current situation in China, there are not yet the right conditions (to abolish it), but our policy is to carefully restrict the practice through legislation and the legal system," she said at a regular briefing.

 

The supreme court will begin reviewing death penalties on January 1, which could bring thousands of capital punishment cases before the court each year.

 

The court is preparing by expanding criminal tribunals and a death penalty review team, Xinhua said.

 

The death penalty is supposed to be reserved for crimes that "seriously endanger public security and social order", including homicide, rape, robbery and bombings, Xinhua has said.