Fresh news from mainland China: A drunken driver took off well over the limit, had no driving licence / insurance, crashed into 5 cars and killed 4 people. The highest court in the land has just sentenced him to death. Many folks over there think it's harsh, but not unsurprisingly, the relations of those he killed.
If I find an English language link, will post.
Reactions ? I'm with the court on this one.
Edited by rtj70 on 10/08/2009 at 00:22
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on reading my posting ;
' think it's harsh, but not unsurprisingly, the relations of those he killed. '
should read : '... but not the relations of those he killed ' .
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At least there can be no doubt in this case the state is executing the correct criminal.
A major concern over capital punishment is the inability to correct miscarriages of justice.
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Its certainly a deterrant, law and order by shock and awe. Makes us look a bit lightweight here really.
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Even for those who are in favour of capital punishment (I'm not), executing people who cause death by dangerous driving would be going too far. A more fitting punishment in such cases would be life imprisonment. However reckless the driver might have been, they didn't intend to kill anyone and so it would be better for them to spend the rest of their life in jail reflecting all day and every day on why they are there.
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I've always felt the punishment needs to be commensurate to the crime. If death is the punishment for a serious lapse of judgement and disregard for other people, then the far worse crime of intentional, cruel, cold-blooded murder can only attract the same sentence. That weakens the law IMO.
What is the punishment over there for speeding? Life imprisonment?
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"What is the punishment over there for speeding? Life imprisonment"
Article 99 of the The Law of the People's Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety, adopted at the 5th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on October 28, 2003, provides for a fine of not less than 200 yuan but not more than 200) yuan for driving a motor vehicle at a speed 50 per cent in excess of the specified speed per hour.
Isn't the internet wonderful!
www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/07/content_29966.h...m
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If he had no papers, then he is mens rea and as such deserves to be hanged. It's not as if it's (the punishment) is a surprise, they know the penalty and still choose to ignore it.
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If he had no papers then he is mens rea and as such deserves to be hanged.
Do you mean just legally, or morally as well?
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provides for a fine of not less than 200 yuan but not more than 200) yuan for driving a motor vehicle at a speed 50 per cent in excess of the specified speed per hour.
That equates to a £17 fine for speeding, which I guess is rather a lot for the average Chinese wage. Still seems a bit of a jump to death for the more serious offences.
No room for political discussion on this forum, so I guess I can't express my views on this situation with breaking those rules, suffice to say that justice isn't always all it seems in China IMO, and the hapless idiot who did do this very stupid thing may not have been expecting a death sentence at all. A lot of it depends on the political whim and locale you find yourself in at any particular moment over there.
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True story...
When I was in China a while back I asked a lady who was translating for me what they did about motor insurance in accidents where people were injured (having noticed the death wish of the millions of cyclists ).
She replied that the best thing to do in such an accident as a motorist was to reverse over the injured party to make sure that they were well and truly dead......
I'm fairly sure she meant it seriously as she went on to explain that if you did not finish them off the injured would pursue you for ever more .
Life is a lot cheaper in China than here....
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They're probably running short of organ donors ...
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