Suspended Death Sentences

I was reading Richard Cassin's very interesting post at the FCPA Blog about how many corrupt Chinese government officials are being caught when their mistresses disclose the officials' corrupt activities, when one particular term caught my eye.  Cassin mentioned a previous case where a former Railways Minister, Liu Zhijun, had received a "suspended death sentence" for graft.

This sentence struck me as peculiar because suspended sentences in the United States tend only involve jail or prison sentences.  An individual who is convicted and receives a suspended sentence is pretty much off the hook, although if they end up getting convicted of another crime in the future, the prior, suspended sentence may be imposed.

In China, suspended death sentences are imposed with a certain time limit.  For example, Liu, the former Railways Minister, was sentenced to a two-year suspended death sentence.  After those years pass, and if Liu has maintained good behavior in prison (which apparently almost always happens), the suspended death sentence becomes a sentence to life in prison -- which in turn can be reduced to a certain term of years.  This type of sentence is exclusive to Chinese law.

Suspended death sentences are controversial in China, a country known for handing down a lot of death sentences.  While the death sentence is viewed as a deterrent for corrupt officials, the prospect of having this sentence suspended makes it a far less frightening prospect.