Life & death difference

Under the country's Criminal Procedure Law, people's procuratorates must oversee criminal proceedings - on top of issuing arrest warrants, investigating cases under its direct jurisdiction and instituting public prosecutions.

Their performance, to a great degree, determines if justice is done in court. It can mean life-or-death differences in cases where capital punishment is involved.

The Criminal Procedure Law assigns general roles for the procuratorates in every link of criminal proceedings. But the absence of universal standards at technical levels has compromised the jurisprudential claim of equality for everyone before the law.