The Day After “Death by a Thousand Cuts” Was Abolished

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Wu Tingfang (also known as Ng Choy), the first ethnic Chinese lawyer that received a law degree from the West, endeavored to promote the adoption of Western rule of law in China. He drafted the criminal procedure code and put an end to the inhumane methods of capital punishment such as “death by a thousand cuts.” At the same time, countries around the world started to adopt Western judicial and court hearing systems because of colonization or reform. The use of torture in interrogations was gradually abolished. The 100-year journey of judicial reform, the implementation of legal systems, and the various human rights movements are the tears and blood of human rights development.

About the Documentary
Tony Robinson’s Crime and Punishment
Produced by: Channel 4
Two hundred years ago, the use of torture as a punishment, which started since the medieval period, was the standard. The Industrial Revolution was accompanied by the ideological revolution. Voltaire, John Locke, and Jeremy Bentham’s theories laid the foundation of modern law. Following the reform of criminal penalties and the prison system, the modernization of judicial system finally began.