Training in procuratorial practice of the criminal procedure law in China

Purpose

Due to rapidly growing crime rates, the government has initiated a number of policies seeking to mitigate and reduce serious crimes in China. Judicial authorities and officers, including prosecutors can at times give leeway to human rights protection of detainees in the overall goal of reducing such threats to security and social stability.

The abuse of compulsory measures in pre-trial procedures, including for example, unnecessary detention, is the main source of violations of human rights in criminal justice in China. In 2012, China’s top legislature adopted the revised Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), which specifies that “respecting and safeguarding human rights” is an objective of criminal procedure. However, effective implementation of the amendments to the CPL has, in certain aspects, been somewhat slow due to, amongst others, prosecutors’ uncertainty on how to apply the amendments in practice.

The objective of this project is increased access to justice and compliance with fair trial guarantees through improved skills and capacity of public prosecutors to implement the revised CPL.

The Hunan University School of Law (HUSL) carried out field research at local level People’s Procuratorates in six different provinces on the challenges of implementing the revised CPL, and found that problems mainly occur in pre-trial procedures. The empirical data fed into a series of discussion workshops for the drafting of a textbook on pre-trial procedures which then formed the basis for the national training seminars with more than 250 prosecutors from all over China attending.

The difference we make

Influencing the mind-set of prosecutors is a long-term process that requires constant inculcation and guidance. Well-targeted training is undoubtedly an effective measure to raise awareness. The approximately 250 prosecutors that underwent the training were helped to embrace the concept of human rights and improve their capacity for enforcing the revised CPL. Other than the balancing of criminal procedure as a crime fighting and human rights protection mechanism, prosecutors were also trained in how to effectively apply criminal compulsory measures and prevent infringement on suspect’s rights and how to adhere to rules of evidence and evidence collection. Moreover, in China, the procuratorial functions run through the whole process of Chinese criminal procedure and also have the responsibility to carry out legal supervision of detention and other compulsory investigation measures including supervision of public authorities in the criminal justice system. Prosecutors are therefore the only judicial officer to participate in the entire criminal justice process and consequently bear a large responsibility and play an important role in securing human rights awareness and human rights protection in the implementation of the revised CPL. Hence, developing the capacity of prosecutors to enforce the revised CPL and raising their awareness of human rights has great significance and outreach

Partners

• Hunan University School of Law