故意杀人罪位列刑法分则第四章侵犯公民人身权利、民主权利罪之首，历来被视为最严重的犯罪行为之一。现行法律条文中故意杀人罪的罪状描述过于简略，法定量刑幅度偏大，既不能适应复杂多样的司法实践，又无法实现精准量刑和慎用死刑的政策要求。为贯彻宽严相济、少杀慎杀的刑事政策，本文参考古今中外对杀人行为的规制，以犯罪分层作为工具，按照严重程度对故意杀人罪进行划分。重构刑罚配置并提高死刑适用门槛，运用立法技术减少死刑条文数量，最终实现故意杀人罪的死刑控制。

第一章为本文绪论，介绍文章的研究背景及研究意义，并对涉及到犯罪分层和特殊情节故意杀人的文献整理综述。在犯罪呈现“双升双降”趋势的背景下，以故意杀人罪为典型代表的严重暴力犯罪也具有轻缓化趋势。通过犯罪分层，将故意杀人罪在纵向上划分出不同层级，对于深刻理解和准确把握故意杀人罪具有重要意义。

第二章分析故意杀人罪的死刑适用状况，从而揭示其立法缺憾。以时间跨度近二十年的实证研究为基础，得出结论：故意杀人罪死刑立即执行的判决率不高，这极大冲击了“杀人偿命”、“杀人者死”的传统观念。故意杀人罪的简单罪状和死刑当头，在社会观念、司法适用和死刑废止层面引发诸多问题。对此，有必要从立法的角度完善故意杀人罪。

第三章分别考察唐律“六杀”、美国杀人罪的分类和分层，以及故意杀人罪分类的现行国际标准。唐律按照主观罪过划分杀人行为，较重的三种可能被判处死刑，其他行为罪不至死。美国刑法将谋杀行为分为一级二级两等，二级谋杀罪不得适用死刑。《犯罪统计的国际分类》以行为描述为依据对犯罪进行分类，指出态势情景、受害者与行为人的关系、杀人机制是关系到故意杀人行为特征的三个标准。

第四章对我国故意杀人罪进行分层，结合刑法理论，将其分为基本犯、减轻犯、加重犯。笔者采用实质标准下的三层分法，即依据杀人行为的严重程度来划分犯罪行为，重点考虑杀人原因和动机、杀人行为方式、杀害对象等影响因素。基本犯指的是没有减轻或加重情节的故意杀人行为。减轻犯包含激情杀人、因被害人过错而杀人、教唆帮助自杀、安乐死和见危不救。加重犯包含故意杀人动机卑劣、手段残忍、对象特殊、后果严重。

第五章从实质和形式两个方面研究故意杀人罪的死刑控制。实质上，重构法定刑并提高死刑门槛：故意杀人罪的基本犯，处十年以上有期徒刑或者无期徒刑；故意杀人罪的减轻犯，处三年以上十年以下有期徒刑；故意杀人罪的加重犯，处无期徒刑或者死刑，可以同时适用终身监禁。形式上，以转化犯和竞合犯为学理基础，逐步减少其他犯罪中的死刑条款，使故意杀人罪成为攻克死刑的最后堡垒。

The crime of intentional homicide ranks first in the fourth chapter of the Criminal Law, which is one of the most serious crimes. However, the description of intentional homicide in the current provision is too brief, and the statutory sentencing range is too wide. In order to implement the criminal policy of combining leniency with strictness and killing less and prudently, I refer to the regulation of homicide in ancient China and foreign countries, and use crime stratification as a tool to classify the crime of intentional homicide according to its severity. I reconstruct the configuration of punishment and raise the threshold for applying death penalty, reduce the provisions of death penalty by using legislative techniques, and finally realize the control of death penalty for intentional homicide.

The first chapter is to present the background and importance of this research, and review the studies related to crime stratification and intentional homicide in special circumstances. With the trend of "double rise and double fall", the serious violent crimes represented by intentional homicide also have a tendency to ease. Through crime stratification, it is of great significance to deeply understand the crime of intentional homicide by dividing the crimes into different levels.

The second chapter is to analyze the application of the death penalty for intentional homicide, so as to reveal the shortcomings of its legislation. Based on the empirical researches conducted by scholars in recent twenty years, it is concluded that the immediate execution rate of the death penalty for intentional homicide is not high, which has greatly impacted the traditional concepts. Empirical researches show that there is a certain deviation between the legislative status and judicial application, which causes many problems in social concepts, judicial application and the abolition of the death penalty. In this regard, it is necessary to improve intentional homicide from the perspective of legislation.

The third chapter is to examine the classification and stratification of the "six kinds of killings" in the Tang Law, the homicide in the United States, and the current international standard of intentional homicide. The Tang law divided homicides according to subjective intention. Only the more serious three might be punishable by death, others did not lead to death. The United States divides murders into first-degree and second-degree, and the death penalty is not applicable to second-degree murder. The International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes classifies crimes by behavior description, and points out that the situation, the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, and the killing mechanism are three criteria related to the characteristics of intentional homicide.

The fourth chapter is to stratify the crime of intentional homicide, and divide it into the basic crime, the light crime, and the serious crime according to the academic theory of criminal law. I adopt the three-tiered and substantive standard, that is, the crimes are divided by seriousness. The factors such as the cause and motive, the method, the victim, etc. are mainly considered. The basic crimes refer to other intentional homicides without mitigating or aggravating circumstances. The light crimes include passion homicide, victim-inflicted homicide, abetting or aiding suicide, euthanasia, and inaction. The serious crimes include homicide with despicable motive, cruel method, special object and serious consequence.

The fifth chapter is to study the death penalty control of intentional homicide from the two aspects of substance and form. In essence, the statutory sentence is reconstructed on the basis of stratification of crimes: The basic crimes are punishable by imprisonment of more than ten years or life-long. The light crimes are punishable by imprisonment of three to ten years. The serious crimes shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty. Formally, the death penalty clauses in other crimes should be gradually reduced, making the crime of intentional homicide the last fortress to overcome the death penalty.