针对广东东莞尝试“赔钱减刑”一案， 律师称这符合慎杀少杀的趋势，百姓则质疑——这是否表示富人犯罪受到的处罚会比穷人轻？目前，东莞两级法院在多宗刑事附带民事赔偿的案件中，提倡对民事部分进行调解，并对作出经济赔偿的被告人给予从轻处罚。对此，东莞中院刑一庭庭长梁聪解释说，东莞两级法院是从维护被害人的合法利益角度出发的。个别媒体认为的“赔钱减刑”不符合法律规定，是片面的。

Is commuting¹ a sentence in exchange for cash an insult to the rule of law and poor victims? Public opinion seems to be divided.

The Second Intermediate Court of Dongguan in South China's Guangdong Province has reduced more than 30 criminals' sentences and commuted² the capital punishment of many to life sentence in exchange for cash.

The criminals are offered the choice with the consent of the victims' families, who are paid the money as compensation.

Defending the move, the Dongguan court's deputy director Chen Si showed a letter of thanks from a victim's family who had consented to commuting the death sentence of the guilty to life imprisonment³ if they were paid 50,000 yuan ($6,400) as compensation.

"The court, after serious consideration, decided⁴ to reduce his sentence within the provisions of law," he said. "And the money helped the family of the victim out of abject⁵ poverty."

To be honest, Dongguan Second Intermediate Court didn't pioneer the cash-for-amnesty move, professor of Political Science and Law in Beijing's China University Hong Daode said.

A Supreme⁶ People's Court regulation issued in late 2000 stipulated⁷ that courts could consider the compensation if defendants⁹ were ready to pay the victims or their families while handing down sentences.

"Strictly¹⁰ based on the law, the Supreme Court took a great step forward in putting judicial¹¹ explanation into practice." Hong said.

China's famed law expert He Jiahong corroborated¹² Hong, and said: "In essence, the law punishes the crime rather than the criminal. And the guiding principle of China's criminal law requires extreme caution while passing the death penalty."

The Supreme Court took back the right of final review of a death sentence from the provincial¹³ courts from January 1 to tighten¹⁴ control over handing down capital punishment.

But commuting the death penalty after a defendant⁸ pays compensation to the victim's family does not tantamount to "redeeming¹⁵ crime with money", he said.

"The money can help the family, especially if it's poor, and more importantly, only after its consent can the sentence be lightened, he said.

But, many disagree with the law experts. An online writer calling himself "Rule of Law" termed it a "hard sell" on Sina.com, one of China's major news portals.

"Why not have a second opinion on the so-called consent," wrote "Rule of Law." "The poor sufferers have no option but to accept the money. They are, to some extent 'coerced¹⁶' into compromise."

Liu Xiao, a third-year law student in Renmin University of China, appealed to the judiciary on "behalf of all the victims" to set up a "sufferer-compensation system" to enable victims' families, especially the very poor ones, to take the right decision in a case.

Vocabulary:

commuting a sentence：减刑

life imprisonment：无期徒刑

capital punishment：死刑

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