Composition of the Supreme People’s Court for the Review of Death Sentences The Supreme Court won the right to review death sentences and hundreds of judges were selected across the country to form a death penalty review committee to determine the basic principle of “kill less and kill with caution”. In 2012, the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended accordingly, stipulating that the final appeal of all death penalty cases must be tried by the Supreme People’s Court; judges must question the accused and listen to the opinions of lawyers when reviewing the death sentence; apply higher evidentiary standards in death penalty cases and take the initiative to establish a system of exclusion of unlawful evidence in death penalty cases.