摘要： 对照《公民权利与政治权利公约》分析，《刑法修正案（八）》在死刑改革方面的进步值得肯定，但与公约要求的、逐步限制死刑适用以最终废除死刑的目标仍有距离；参照《北京规则》、《美洲人权公约》等分析，新修正案对未成年人、老年人犯罪适用刑罚增加了从宽处理的规定，实现了对弱者的人权保障，但该修正案在建立未成年人及成年人前科消灭制度等方面仍有不足；比照《东京规则》等国际公约分析，其以社区矫正入刑化为代表的非监禁刑之完善，体现了我国对国际公约相关要求的积极回应。

关键词: 《刑法修正案（八）》, 国际人权公约, 人权保障, 刑罚轻缓

Abstract: Comparing with International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 8h Amendment to Criminal Lawdefinitely makes progress on reform of capital punishment：However, there is still a long way to achieve the ob-jective of abolishing death penalty. In accordance with Beijing Rule, the new amendment adds more provisions ofcriminal penal lenience specifically targeted for the adolescents and the seniors, which maximizes their humanrights protection. But it still fails to establish the system of elimination of conviction records of the adolescentsand the adults ．Pursuant to Tokyo Rule and other relevant international human rights conventions, it improvesnon-confinement system  by containing the principle of community correction, which represents China s positiveresponse to relevant international conventions ．The new amendment revises not only criminal law but also humanrights protection system in China. It is not merely an amendment, but also an achievement of human rights pro-tection in China.

Key words: The 8th Amendment to Criminal Law, International Conventions on Human Rights, Human Rights Protection, Lenience of Criminal Punishment