Science & Technology

Death penalty for serious polluters in China

By T.K. Randall
June 21, 2013 ·  19 comments

Image Credit: CC 2.0 Kevin Dooley With some cities in China seeing frequent smog deemed highly harmful to humans, authorities are putting their foot down in the hopes of stemming the tide of pollution. Courts have now been given the power to hand down the death penalty in the most extreme cases while imposing harsher punishments across the board in a response to complaints over the "lax and superficial" enforcement of the country's current policies.

"With more precise criteria for convictions and sentencing, the judicial explanation provides a powerful legal weapon for law enforcement, which is expected to facilitate the work of judges and tighten punishments for polluters," the government said in a statement. "In the most serious cases the death penalty could be handed down."[!gad]With some cities in China seeing frequent smog deemed highly harmful to humans, authorities are putting their foot down in the hopes of stemming the tide of pollution. Courts have now been given the power to hand down the death penalty in the most extreme cases while imposing harsher punishments across the board in a response to complaints over the "lax and superficial" enforcement of the country's current policies.

"With more precise criteria for convictions and sentencing, the judicial explanation provides a powerful legal weapon for law enforcement, which is expected to facilitate the work of judges and tighten punishments for polluters," the government said in a statement. "In the most serious cases the death penalty could be handed down."

Source: Scientific American | Comments (19)

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