Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 15, 2006 10:12:48 GMT -5
Guilty? Cyber judge metes out death penalty
September 15, 2006
IT is a bid by China to stop corrupt judges.
The introduction of a software program to help decide the sentences handed out by courts means that your fate in this world is being decided in cyberspace.
Computers equipped with a sophisticated legal database are being used by judges to determinine punishments for 100 different crimes including robbery and rape.
Dubbed the 'penalty calculator', the program flashes the recommended sentence on the screen.
The software, which was designed by a Beijing high-tech firm as a way of reining in corrupt judges, has helped determine sentences in 1,500 cases over the last two years in a trial run in China's eastern Shandong province, reported The Daily Mail.
Now, the program is being extended to other provincial courts and may be eventually used in courtrooms across China, where more criminals are put to death than anywhere else in the world.
Software designer Qin Ye, who has been working on the program since 2003, has loaded it with a huge database of Chinese law and case precedents.
Chief judge Wang Hongmei said: 'The software can avoid abuse of the discretionary power of judges as a result of corruption or insufficient legal training.'
newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,113544,00.html
September 15, 2006
IT is a bid by China to stop corrupt judges.
The introduction of a software program to help decide the sentences handed out by courts means that your fate in this world is being decided in cyberspace.
Computers equipped with a sophisticated legal database are being used by judges to determinine punishments for 100 different crimes including robbery and rape.
Dubbed the 'penalty calculator', the program flashes the recommended sentence on the screen.
The software, which was designed by a Beijing high-tech firm as a way of reining in corrupt judges, has helped determine sentences in 1,500 cases over the last two years in a trial run in China's eastern Shandong province, reported The Daily Mail.
Now, the program is being extended to other provincial courts and may be eventually used in courtrooms across China, where more criminals are put to death than anywhere else in the world.
Software designer Qin Ye, who has been working on the program since 2003, has loaded it with a huge database of Chinese law and case precedents.
Chief judge Wang Hongmei said: 'The software can avoid abuse of the discretionary power of judges as a result of corruption or insufficient legal training.'
newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,113544,00.html