Procedural Justice And The Fair Trial In Contemporary Chinese Criminal Justice

This review examines the literature on procedural justice and the fair trial over the past two decades in the People’s Republic of China

A conceptual-based analysis of China's legal and justice systems, and their social and political impact in the twenty-first century.

This book considers 'law on display' in Chinese courts. As the first sustained study of criminal trials, rallies, and campaigns in Chinese courts, it offers an account of how law and punishment is constructed and represented both in practice and in rhetoric.

'Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China is highly recommended. The editors have assembled the leading Western and Chinese scholars in the field to examine the administration of criminal justice in China, showing both how far the system has come and the challenges that lie ahead. This is an important and timely book. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand or has to deal with the Chinese criminal justice system.' Klaus Mühlhahn, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany 'This highly informative and engaging volume on the Chinese criminal justice system today provides a window into the vagaries of law and its operation in the People's Republic. McConville and Pils bring together an impressive array of scholars whose studies span the criminal process. From initial police investigation, through to prosecution and sentencing of defendants, we see how dominant values in the Chinese state and its structures of power make the practice of criminal justice today still intensely political.' Susan Trevaskes, Griffith University, Australia Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China is an anthology of chapters on the contemporary criminal justice system in mainland China, bringing together the work of recognised scholars from China and around the world. The book addresses issues at various stages of the criminal justice process (investigation and prosecution of crime and criminal trial) as well as problems pertaining to criminal defence and to parallel systems of punishment. All of the contributions discuss the criminal justice system in the context of China's legal reforms. Several of the contributions urge the conclusion that the criminal process and related processes remain marred by overwhelming powers of the police and Party-State, and a chapter discussing China's 2012 revision of its Criminal Procedure Law argues that the revision is unlikely to bring significant improvement. This diverse comparative study will appeal to academics in Chinese law, society and politics, members of the human rights NGO and diplomatic communities as well as legal professionals interested in China.

This book presents a short history and timeline of criminal procedure legislation in China. First, it addresses the status of Human Rights Conventions and the challenges resulting from human rights standards for Chinese criminal procedural law and practice. The discussion then moves on to explore the fundaments of Chinese criminal procedure such as the applicable law found in the Chinese CPL (Criminal Procedure Law) and legal institutions. The book covers relevant actors in the Chinese Criminal Justice System (ie judges, prosecutors, police, defence councils) as well as the relationships between them. It also includes topics relating to the victims of crime and their role in criminal proceedings. Starting with pre-trial investigations (extending in particular to coercive measures and discretionary powers in the implementation of non-prosecution policies) the book continues as a guide through the basic principles of criminal trial, standards of evidence and rules related to conviction. Appeals and the issue of reopening criminal proceedings are also considered, with the book making particular reference to a number of special procedures (including juvenile delinquency) in the closing chapter.

The book reviews the origin and development of the exclusionary rule in China, and systematically explains the problems and challenges faced by criminal justice reformers. The earlier version of the exclusionary rule in China pays more attention to confessions obtained by torture and other illegal methods, reflecting that the orientation of the rule aims mainly to prevent wrongful convictions. Since the important clause that human rights are respected and protected by the country was written in the Constitution in 2004, modern notions such as human rights protection and procedural justice have been widely accepted in China. The book compares various theories of the exclusionary rule in many countries and proposes that the rationale of human rights protection and procedural justice should be embraced by the exclusionary rule. At the same time, the book elaborately demonstrates the thoughts and designs of the vital judicial reform strategy--strict enforcement of the exclusionary rule, including clarifying the content of illegal evidence and improving the procedure of excluding illegal evidence. In addition, the book discusses the influence of the exclusionary rule on the pretrial procedure and trial procedure respectively and puts forward pertinent suggestions for the trial-centered procedural reform in the future. In the appendix, the book conducts case analysis of 20 selected cases concerning the application of the exclusionary rule. This is the first book to give a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the exclusionary rule of illegally obtained evidence in China. The author of the book, senior judge of the Supreme People’s Court in China, with his special experience of direct participation in the design of the exclusionary rule, will provide the readers with thought-provoking explanation of the distinctive feature of judicial reform strategy and criminal justice policy in China.

This book gives a concise but comprehensive introduction to Chinese Criminal Procedure to people who do not know Chinese language but are interested in learning about Chinese law. In order to make the introduction easily accessible, this book discusses problems which are commonly examined and debated by Western scholars in a way that Western legal scholars are familiar with. Since a significant amount of Western criminal procedure laws concerns citizens' constitutional rights, this book focuses on the protections of citizens' constitutional rights in the context of criminal procedure. In particular, this book seeks to address the following questions: To what extent does the contemporary Chinese Criminal Procedure Law protects citizens' houses, privacy and personal freedom? Does the suspect have the right to remain silent when being interrogated? Shall the defendant be presumed innocent when facing a criminal charge? To what extent does a defendant have the right to a fair trial? These questions will be addressed in turn in this book, providing detailed analysis and explanations for each of the issues identified. YI Yanyou is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Evidence Law Research Center at the School of Law of Tsinghua University in Beijing. YI teaches and researches in the area of criminal procedure law, evidence law, and judicial system. He is the author of Chinese Criminal Procedure and Chinese Society (Peking University Press, 2010); The System and Spirit of Evidence Law: With Special Reference to Anglo-American Law (Peking University Press, 2010); Law of Criminal Procedure (Law Press, 2008); Jury Trial and the Adversary System (Taipei, Sanming Bookstore, 2004); and On the Right to Remain Silent, China University of Politics and Law Press, 2001). Yi's publications also include more than 30 scholarly articles and essays published in law reviews and journals.