China tightens use of lenient sentencing for severe crimes

BEIJING - China's top court and top procuratorate have asked judicial agencies to adhere to strict standards in the use of lenient penalties for severe crimes such as rape and serious violence.

The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have jointly issued a document containing guiding opinions on sentencing for 23 types of crime.

In cases involving severe crimes, including organized crime, serious violence, drug-related crime and sexual assault against minors, judicial personnel are asked to adhere to strict standards in their consideration of whether leniency can be granted or to what extent, according to the document, which was made public on Wednesday.

The document also called for the tightened allowance of probation for convicts found guilty of rape, noting that aspects of a crime such as means, consequences and criminal intent, as well as the threat posed by a criminal and their demonstration of repentance, must all be taken into consideration.