Government and Policy
Pre-trial detention to be limited
By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-22 07:11
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Beijing - The Supreme People's Procuratorate is pushing to alleviate a nationwide backlog of people in police detention by urging officials to initiate their trials by the end of October.
The top procuratorate will address suspects in custody for more than eight years, while provincial procuratorate officials will supervise trials for suspects in detention for less than eight years, the SPP announced on Tuesday at a symposium held in Jiangxi province.
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Legal experts say the issue of suspects in prolonged custody has long been problematic in China for "complicated" reasons.
With "no clear time limit of custody before and during trial, there is no independent system", to monitor the situation, said Chen Ruihua, a law professor from Peking University.
Another problem lies in the fact that law enforcement attaches more importance to cracking down on crimes than protecting the rights of suspects, Chen added.
From arrest to trial, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, a suspect may be detained for several months or longer.
A first or second trial, meanwhile, may go on for months - or even years - with the permission of a higher court.
"A common practice is that the procuratorate would ask the police to re-investigate a case, thus increasing days in detention," Chen said.
"What's more, the judges can ask the procuratorate to provide new evidence", adding to the time a suspect has already served said Chen.
"Also the judges of the second trials can send cases back to the previous courts in mistrials."
Since there is no effective mechanism regulating the amount of time people spend in police custody now, said Chen, the accused remain largely unable to defend themselves against the charges they face.
"Our legal system in effect encourages law enforcement officials to detain suspects excessively", Chen added. Moreover, in many cases, the timely release of a suspect could leave police officials in a position where they would "lose credit".
Although some have voiced the concern that an expedited release can lead to the freeing of guilty suspects, everyone agrees the system needs improvement.
Fan Chongyi, a law professor from the China University of Political Science and Law is one.
"To solve the problem, a more effective system should be established", said Fan. Sometimes, he added, "lawyers have time pressure to finish cases, a well-known example is the case of Zhao Zuohai."
The 57-year-old Zhao was in custody for 39 months before being sentenced.
He had been wrongfully jailed for 11 years after a conviction for a murder that never took place.
He received 650,000 yuan ($96,000) in compensation from the Intermediate People's Court in Shangqiu city, in Central China's Henan province.
The country's top procuratorate also issued a statement by which Chinese procurators have approved the arrest of 453,371 people involved in 303,810 criminal cases during the first half of 2010.
A total of 13,214 people were investigated for commercial bribery or bribery in the construction sector, while 6,032 people were investigated for dereliction of duty and rights violations, the statement said.
