The review of death penalty would be carried out in a cautious and strict way, said an official with China's Supreme People's Court on Tuesday.

According to the official who asked not to be identified, the review shall be made by a panel of three judges, who would examine written files and make inquests from defendants in person if necessary. In some cases the judges shall make investigations in a crime scene.

The attorney of a defendant is allowed to air opinion during the review, and the opinion will be heard by the court, said the official.

While enforcing its crackdown on crimes, China is becoming more prudent while exercising death penalty and retrieved the right of its review since this January.

"Death penalty is imposed for only a small amount of serious offenders," he said, stressing the cautious use of death penalty.

On occasions when a crime is committed with a fault of the victim, or when an offender surrenders himself to police or contributes to cracking the case, punishment on the offender shall be alleviated, according to the official.

However, the official noted that defendants in serious economic crimes involving graft and bribery must be severely punished.

He also talked about mis-conviction. "A wrong verdict is resulted from procedure loopholes and it is the responsibility of the court to avoid such mistakes," he said.

The loopholes boil down to human factor, said the official, adding that Supreme People's Court shall raise the sense of responsibility of judges and enhance their capability via various channels, so as to ensure the quality of verdicts.

China's Top Judge Xiao Yang revealed that last year 889,042 people were convicted by courts at all levels across the country, and 153,724 people received sentences of longer than five years, including life imprisonment and death penalty.

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2007)