Section 52: Reduction of the death penalty

Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section

1. Supreme Court Judgment No. 2585/2568 (2025)

   Where the court of first instance sentences a defendant to imprisonment for life, section 245 paragraph two of the Criminal Procedure Code makes that judgment not final unless the Court of Appeal affirms it. So even where the defendant appeals only against the severity of the sentence, the Court of Appeal must first consider and decide whether he committed the offence at all.

   The court of first instance sentenced the first defendant to imprisonment for life for joint murder, and he appealed only asking for a lighter sentence. The Court of Appeal Region 7 considered only that ground. The Supreme Court held that unlawful: under section 245 paragraph two of the Criminal Procedure Code the Court of Appeal had to decide whether he committed the offence at all before the judgment could become final. Taking the point of its own motion as one of public order, it set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal Region 7 and sent the case back for a fresh judgment. It made no ruling on any reduction of punishment under Section 52.

2. Supreme Court Judgment No. 2813/2568 (2025)

   Premeditated murder under Section 289(4) carries the death penalty only, and an attempt is punished at two-thirds of it; reducing the death penalty by one-third under Section 52(1) leaves imprisonment for life.

   The court explained that premeditated murder under Section 289(4) carries the death penalty only and an attempt is punished at two-thirds of it. Reducing the death penalty by one-third under Section 52(1) leaves imprisonment for life, which the lower courts then halved under Section 78 to twenty-five years.

3. Supreme Court Judgment No. 6190/2567 (2024)

   Section 52 governs the reduction of a death penalty. Where the court finds the offence is murder under Section 288 and imposes imprisonment for life, a reduction by one half is made under Section 53, not Section 52, and leaves twenty-five years.

   The lower courts had convicted of premeditated murder committed with torture or cruelty and imposed the death penalty, reduced by one half for the confession. The Supreme Court held there was no evidence of premeditation, the stabbing having happened suddenly, and dealt with the torture and cruelty limb of its own motion as a question of public order. It varied the judgment to a conviction for murder under Section 288, imposed imprisonment for life, and reduced that by one half under Section 78 read with Section 53, leaving twenty-five years. Section 52 (2) was not applied.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.