我国刑法第四十八条第一款规定,死刑适用于罪行极其严重的犯罪分子。刑法理论上将该规定界定为死刑的适用标准,并以此作为死刑适用的出发点,人们对此也深信不疑。但是,分析中华人民共和国成立后的刑法立法,观察世界上其他保留并适用死刑之国家或者地区的死刑立法,我们会发现,死刑适用标准的界定不无问题,有必要从理论上予以反思,并考虑上述规定的改进和完善。一、我国及其他国家和地区关于死刑标准的规定 Article 48 of the Criminal Law of the first paragraph stipulates that the death penalty applies to criminals with extremely serious crimes. Criminal law theory defines the provision as the applicable standard of death penalty, and as a starting point for the application of the death penalty, people are also convinced of it. However, analyzing the criminal law legislation after the founding of People’s Republic of China and observing the death penalty legislation in other countries or regions in the world that retain and apply the death penalty, we will find that the definition of the applicable standard of death penalty is not without problems and it is necessary to reflect theoretically Consider the above improvement and improvement. First, China and other countries and regions on the death penalty standards