Courts more cautious on death cases

Percentage of overturned verdicts falls 'as review policy is working'

The percentage of death sentences being overturned by the Supreme People's Court has fallen sharply since 2007, due to tighter court procedures, Hu Yunteng, the top court's director of research, said.

There has been a steady decrease in the percentage over the last five years after the top judicial authority reinstated a review of all sentences carrying the death penalty.