8 Nov 91
FE/1224 C1/10
IV. GUARANTEE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA'S
JUDICIAL WORK
The aim and task of China's judicial work is to protect the basic rights, freedoms, and other legal rights and interests of the whole people in accordance with law; protect public property and citizens' lawfully-owned private property; maintain social order; guarantee the smooth progress of the modernization drive; and punish the small number of criminals according to law. All this shows that China attaches great importance to human rights protection in the administration of justice.
China's public security and judicial organs follow the following principles in carrying out their duties: (1) All citizens are equal in regard to the applicability of law. In accordance with the law, each citizen's legal rights and interests shall be protected, and any citizen's offences against the law and his criminal activities shall be looked into; (2) China's public security and judicial organs shall base themselves on facts and regard the law as the criterion in the conduct of all cases; (3) the procuratorate and the court shall independently exercise their respective procuratorial and judicial authority. They shall only obey the law and not be interfered with by any administrative organ, social organization or person. While dealing with criminal cases, the people's court, the people's procuratorate and the public security organ shall divide their work according to law, cooperate with and moderate one another. They should exercise their authority only within the scope of their own responsibilities and not [be] allowed to supersede one another. Procuratorial organs shall oversee whether the activities in public security organs, courts, prisons and reform-through-labour institutions are legal. These principles of justice are clearly stipulated in China's law, and they provide the legal guarantee for safeguarding human rights in the state's judicial activities.
In every link of the work of public security and judicial organs and in the judicial procedure, China's law provides definite and strict stipulations to protect and guarantee human rights in an effective way.
1. Detention and Arrest
China's Constitution provides that it is prohibited to take people into custody illegally or to deprive or limit citizens' personal freedom in other illegal ways. Without the permission or decision of the people's procuratorate or the decision of the people's court, and the dispensation of public security organs, no citizen can be arrested. In order to guarantee the proper use of the compulsory measure of arrest and to prevent infringement of the right of innocent people, the Constitution and the law vest procuratorial organs with the authority of investigation and approval before any arrest is made. According to law, public security organs have the authority to detain. If the internee is not convinced by the detention, he may appeal to the public security or procuratorial organs. If suspects detained by public security organs need to be arrested, this should be approved by the people's procuratorate; if the people's procuratorate does not approve the arrests the public security organs should release them upon receiving notice from peopies procuratorates. China's procuratorial organs and people's courts should promptly
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investigate and deal with cases involving staff members in governmental departments and other citizens depriving or limiting citizens' personal freedom.
China's law of Criminal Procedure provides specific regulations on the deadline for handling criminal cases. At the same time, special regulations have been formulated on the deadline for major and complicated cases according to the actual conditions. The Supplementary Regulations on Deadline in Handling Criminal Cases, issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in July 1984, provides extension and calculation of the deadline for investigation and detaining, the deadline for the first trial and second trial, and the deadline for supplementary investigation of major and complicated cases.
2. Search and the Obtaining of Evidence
China's Constitution provides that it is prohibited to illegally search a citizen's body, and to illegally search or intrude into citizens' houses. The Law of Criminal Procedure
provides that in order to search for criminal evidence and seize criminals, public security organs can search the body, articles, residence and other places concerned of the accused as well as those who may hide criminals or criminal evidence, but should do it strictly according to legal procedure. Procuratorial organs should strictly supervise law enforcement in the investigating activities of public security organs.
As a matter of principle and discipline for China's public security and judicial organs in handling cases, it is strictly prohibited to extort confessions by torture. Whenever a case of violating this principle and discipline occurs, it should be dealt with according to law. In 1990, China's procuratorial organs filed for investigation 472 cases which involved extorting confessions by torture. This has not only protected citizens' personal rights effectively, but also taught law enforcement officials a lesson.
3. Prosecution and Trial
Whether a case should be prosecuted after investigation or exempt from prosecution should be decided by procuratorial organs after overall and careful examination according to legal procedure; this is to ensure the timeliness, accuracy and legality of a punishment, and at the same time, to prevent innocent citizens from unjust prosecution and prevent citizens' rights from infringement. In 1990, after examining cases to be prosecuted or exempt from prosecution, which were referred to them by investigating organs, the procuratorial organs at various levels in the country decided to exempt 3,507 people from prosecution.
The people's courts carry out a public trial system. Cases should be tried publicly, except those involving state secrets or individual privacy and involving minors, which according to law shall not be heard publicly. The main points of a case, the name of the accused, the time and place of the trial should be announced before the hearing, and visitors should be allowed into the court. During the bearing all the facts and evidence on which the case on file is based should be investigated and checked in court. All activities in court should be carried out publicly except when the case is being reviewed during court recession. These include issuing the indicument by the public prosecutor, court investigation, questioning witnesses, devate and the final statement by the accused. The verdicts in all