CHINA. CHINESE JUDGE SAYS DEATH PENALTY APPLIED UNEVENLY ACROSS NATION, SEEKS TO UNIFY STANDARDS

July 5, 2007: China's top court will ensure the death penalty is applied uniformly across the nation by the end of the year, state media said. In 2007, China's highest court started reviewing all death sentences meted out by provincial courts, due to reports of wrongly convicted people being executed and arbitrary death sentences.
Zhang Jun, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, said the review has reduced the number of death sentences, and "human rights protection is constantly improving." However, uneven standards for applying the death penalty in provincial high courts has led to "judicial injustice."
According to Ni Shouming, Supreme People's Court spokesman, unified guidelines will be released by the end of the year. (Sources: International Herald Tribune, 05/07/2007)