Facing international condemnation for handing out too many death sentences, China today said rules are being reformed to restrict capital punishment only in rare cases.Under new guidelines being drawn up, the authorities plan to make evidence obtained illegally through torture during interrogation as non-cognisable.According regulations issued a death sentence should be pronounced only with sufficient evidence acquired through legal means.The rules jointly issued by the top court, the top procuratorate, the ministries of public security, state security and justice, are the first specific rules on collection of evidence and review in criminal cases.The first regulation sets out principles and rules for scrutinising and gauging evidence in cases involving the death penalty, and the other sets out detailed procedure for examining evidence and for excluding evidence obtained illegally.The regulations make it clear that evidence with unclear origin, confessions obtained through torture, or testimony obtained through violence and intimidation are invalid, particularly in death sentences.