Despite the Chinese Constitution guaranteeing their legal rights, the people of China, especially the poor, ethnic minorities, migrant workers or political dissidents, have found it difficult to obtain justice in the courts.
Although things are improving, political interference by the Chinese authorities often means it is difficult to get a fair trial in China. Those accused may be:
denied a lawyer or not given the chance to speak in their own defence
convicted on weak evidence which they are not allowed to challenge
denied the chance of an appeal
If convicted, even of minor crimes, individuals often receive very long prison terms compared to Western sentencing.
The death penalty
China executes more people than the rest of the world put together. In 2019, the human rights organisation Amnesty International estimated thousands of people were executed by the Chinese authorities, despite the official figure of 657.
Forty six crimes currently carry a possible death sentence although most people who are executed are convicted of murder or large scale drug crimes.
The Chinese authorities do not release figures so it is difficult to get an exact figure on the number of annual executions. China does not execute those under eighteen, although foreigners have been executed.
Executions can take place by firing squad, and more recently by lethal injection, which is sometimes administered in mobile execution vans.
