Recently, the case of Hong Kong celebrity Cai Tianfeng who was premeditated to be killed, dismembered, and cooked and dumped shocked the entire society. It is reported that Cai Tianfeng's ex husband, parents, and brother, who are suspected of committing such a shocking crime, have been arrested by the Hong Kong police. On February 27, the four people were brought before the Kowloon City Court in Hong Kong (to appear before the court). Kuang's three sons were charged with murder, and Kuang's mother was charged with obstructing justice. The magistrate postponed the case to May 8 for questioning, and did not allow the four people to be released on bail.

1、 The murderer in the Cai case will not be sentenced to death

The suspects in the Cai Tianfeng case have all been arrested. According to the information disclosed by the police and the media, the facts of the crime in this case are relatively clear. The criminal means are extremely cruel and the nature of the crime is extremely harsh. Once convicted, the perpetrator of such a crime will inevitably be sentenced to a maximum sentence, and similar cases in many countries and regions will ultimately be sentenced to death. However, in this case in Hong Kong, even if the Kwong and his sons were ultimately convicted of murder, they would not be sentenced to death because the death penalty in Hong Kong has been abolished for a long time.
Under the influence of British colonial rule, since November 16, 1966, although Hong Kong still retains the name of the death penalty in legislation, it has never been actually executed in judicial practice. Until April 1993, despite the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong people opposing the abolition of the death penalty (according to a June 1992 poll, 84% of respondents disapproved of the abolition of the death penalty), the Hong Kong Legislative Council still passed the Abolition of the Death Penalty Bill, formally abolishing the death penalty in legislation, with life imprisonment as the maximum penalty.
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong returned to the motherland. Under the system of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintained its original capitalist system and lifestyle, and its laws remained basically unchanged. It exercised a high degree of autonomy, enjoying executive, legislative, independent judicial, and final adjudication powers. Therefore, Hong Kong's law without the death penalty remains unchanged. Even if the culprit in the Cai case is ultimately convicted of murder, the maximum sentence can be life imprisonment.

2、 The Value and Function of Death Penalty

After the Cai case, it has once again aroused public discussion and concern about the preservation and abolition of the death penalty, and many people have even called for the restoration of the death penalty in Hong Kong. There are many issues involved in the preservation or abolition of the death penalty, which have always been controversial. The author supports the view of moderately retaining the death penalty and believes that the death penalty has its inherent value and functions, mainly including the following aspects.

Punish and prevent serious crimes impartially and effectively.

For serious crimes such as intentional homicide that deprive others of their lives, only the death penalty that allows the murderer to "pay for his life with his life" is equivalent. In China, "killing people to pay for their lives" has always been regarded as a matter of course. Therefore, the death penalty is a fair and equivalent punishment for criminals who cause death, such as murderers. At the same time, from the perspective of special prevention, only the death penalty can completely deprive the offender of the ability to commit any crime again, and can also completely and effectively prevent him from committing any crime again. "When a person dies, everything stops," and "the body of eliminating evil, nothing is better than death.". From the perspective of general prevention, the death penalty undoubtedly has the greatest deterrent effect on potential offenders—— That is, "not killing is not enough to punish evil deeds.".

Protect the human rights of victims and comfort their families.

One reason for abolitionists in the debate on the preservation or abolition of the death penalty is that the death penalty does not meet the requirements of safeguarding human rights and is cruel and inhuman. Is it true that those who have committed heinous crimes need to protect their human rights, while those who have been innocent and violated do not need to protect their human rights? The death penalty is the greatest protection of the human rights of innocent victims, and it is the only way to comfort the dead. Compared to the cruel and brutal methods of killing murderers, it is very humane to only execute them by shooting and injecting them, so that their bodies do not suffer too much pain and die gracefully. At the same time, the death penalty can effectively comfort the victims' families. Only by allowing the murderer to "repay with blood" can the victims' families receive solace from the enormous psychological and emotional damage they have suffered, and can the criminal chain reaction caused by homophobic revenge and private retaliation be avoided—— That is, "not killing is not enough to comfort the people.".

3. Relieve trauma and repair damaged social relationships.

Serious violent crimes such as murder undoubtedly have brought gloom and trauma to the entire society, creating cracks in the originally harmonious and stable social relations, and generating emotions and psychology among the people, such as anger, hatred, and panic. Especially in malignant cases such as Cai Tianfeng, people's anger is often extremely strong. If the perpetrators are not sentenced to death, people's emotions cannot be calmed, Without support for the simple sense of justice of the people, society may increase unstable factors, such as the weakening of people's awareness of law-abiding, causing chain criminal reactions such as private retaliation. Only by imposing the death penalty on those who commit the most heinous crimes can people's anger be calmed, lynching prevented, and the awareness of law-abiding among ordinary people strengthened—— That is, "not killing is not enough to calm the people's anger.".
When I was a prosecutor, the author handled a robbery and homicide case. The defendant premeditated robbery and homicide, killing a family of three, including a 3-year-old boy. He first lured his father into the forest and strangled him, then tied him to a stone and sank him into the river. Then, he strangled his mother in a car, and finally pushed his mother and the frightened child into the river with the vehicle, attempting to destroy the body. After the crime, the police only recovered the vehicle and the bodies of their mother and child. After many efforts, the father's body was ultimately unable to be found. The case was very sensational in the local area, and the families of the victims were emotional and emotional, which also caused some panic among the public. The defendant in this case has a strong sense of anti investigation, and at the beginning of his arrest, he repeatedly denied and pleaded cunningly, and before this crime, he had once robbed with a masked gun, but was not arrested. Finally, he was sentenced to death and executed with the approval of the Supreme Court according to law. In this case, when you see a young mother and young child lying silently on the cold autopsy table waiting to be dissected, when you face the victim's family members crying and demanding severe punishment for the murderer, when you hear that the murderer is still trying to deny and escape, you will feel that the death penalty is necessary. At this time, only the death penalty is the most fair and fair, the most soothing, and the most healing punishment.

3、 The Application of Death Penalty Should Be Strict and Prudent

Of course, although it is still necessary to retain the death penalty at present, the death penalty (immediate execution) is the most severe penalty for completely depriving a person of his or her life. Its application must be strictly and prudently implemented, and the principle of proportionality between crime, responsibility, and punishment must be effectively upheld, and the strictest procedural and evidentiary standards must be observed. "Preserving the death penalty, strictly controlling and prudently applying the death penalty" is China's basic death penalty policy.

The first is to strictly restrict the application of the death penalty.

According to the general provisions of China's criminal law, the death penalty is only applicable to criminals with extremely serious crimes. After several revisions, there are fewer and fewer charges applicable to the death penalty in China's criminal law, but currently there are still as many as 46 charges that retain the death penalty in legislation, including the crime of corruption and bribery. The author believes that according to the principle of consistency between criminal responsibility and punishment, and considering the equivalence between punishment and crime, the charges for applying the death penalty in China can be further limited, such as limiting it to serious violent crimes that intentionally deprive others of their lives. In judicial practice, the application of the death penalty should also be gradually reduced. Only for crimes that are extremely serious, of an extremely bad nature, and of great social harm, should the death penalty be applied immediately. Anyone whose crimes have not yet met the above standards and can be killed or not, should not be killed, and fewer should be killed.

The second is to strictly implement corresponding procedural standards.

According to the law, if a death penalty is imposed immediately, it shall be reported to the Supreme People's Court for approval and execution, and the Several Provisions on Safeguarding the Legal Rights and Interests of the Parties in the Death Penalty Review and Execution Procedures shall be strictly observed. The author believes that whether a death penalty case is a first instance, a second instance, or an approval procedure, it should be tried in court using ordinary procedures to maximize the materialization of the court trial and ensure accurate identification of the case. At the same time, it is necessary to fully protect the right of the defendant to defend. If there are no defenders, experienced lawyers should be appointed to defend them in accordance with the law, and attention should be paid to the defense and defense opinions of the defendant and his defenders. We must pay equal attention to punishing crimes according to law and protecting human rights according to law.

Third, strictly abide by the highest standards of evidence.

In death penalty cases, it is necessary to ensure that the facts are clear, that the evidence is reliable and sufficient, that all reasonable doubts are excluded, and that only one conclusion can be reached. "The collection, review, and judgment of evidence should strictly comply with legal procedures, be objective and comprehensive, not credulous in confessions, and prevent extortion of confessions by torture and illegal handling of cases.". "We should strictly abide by the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Examination and Judgment of Evidence in Handling Death Penalty Cases, the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Exclusion of Illegal Evidence in Handling Criminal Cases, and the Opinions on Further Strictly Handling Cases in accordance with the Law to Ensure the Quality of Death Penalty Cases, so as to be cautious in killing.".
Life is priceless, and we should "respect life, respect others, and respect our own life.". The death penalty, which allows people who do not respect their lives or deprive others of their lives to compensate with their own lives, reflects the respect for life and the protection of life. It is a necessary existence.