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proletariat," under the leadership of the CCP. It confirmed many of the changes which had taken place in China's legal system since 1958, including the elimination of the procuratorate and Ministry of Justice as well as such individual rights as that of the accused to a defense and an open trial.
However, the 1975 Constitution was to have a short life. 1976 was one of the most traumatic years in modern Chinese history. Zhou Enlai died in January and an intense struggle erupted between his supporters and the Gang of Four. Mao himself died in September, in October the Gang of Four headed by Mao's wife Jiang Qing was arrested, and China entered a whole new era with the re-emergence and rise to power of Zhou's chosen successor, Deng Xiaoping, beginning in the summer of 1977.
In March 1978 a third Constitution was adopted which restored many of the provisions dealing with the legal system contained in the 1954 Constitution, including the Ministry of Justice, procuratorate, the use of people's assessors, and the right to defense and open trial. Article 47 also stipulates that “No citizen may be arrested except by decision of the people's courts or with the sanction of the people's procuratorate." Far more important than the Constitution itself were the various steps taken by the new leadership to rectify the excesses of the past, and a series of new laws designed to provide a stable base for a rational legal system.
According to published reports, some 110,000 persons who had been detained as “rightists" were released in June 1978, and by the end of June 1980 people's courts at various levels had reviewed over 1.13 million criminal convictions meted out during the Cultural Revolution and redressed over 251,000 of them.10 In early 1979, political and civil rights were restored to landlords and rich peasants and their descendants as long as they supported socialism. Also, in July 1979, the NPC adopted seven major laws including a Criminal Code, a Criminal Code of Procedure, an Organic Law of People's Courts, and an Organic Law of People's Procuratorates, which took effect in January 1980. By the end of 1980, there were over twenty law departments and institutes producing personnel to meet the needs of the new system. A system of people's lawyers was reinstituted in 1979 and legal
109
proletariat," under the leadership of the CCP. It confirmed many of the changes which had taken place in China's legal system since 1958, including the climination of the procuratorate and Ministry of Justice as well as such individual rights as that of the accused to a defense and an open trial.
However, the 1975 Constitution was to have a short life. 1976 was one of the most traumatic years in modern Chinese history. Zhou Enlai died in January and an intense struggle erupted between his supporters and the Gang of Four. Mao himself died in September, in October the Gang of Four headed by Mao's wife Jiang Qing was arrested, and China entered a whole new era with the re-emergence and rise to power of Zhou's chosen successor. Deng Xiaoping, beginning in the summer of 1977.
In March 1978 a third Constitution was adopted which restored many of the provisions dealing with the legal system contained in the 1954 Constitution, including the Ministry of Justice, procuratorate, the use of people's assessors, and the right to defense and open trial. Article 47 also stipulates that “No citizen may be arrested except by decision of the people's courts or with the sanction of the people's procuratorate." Far more important than the Constitution itself were the various steps taken by the new leadership to rectify the excesses of the past, and a series of new laws designed to provide a stable base for a rational legal system.
According to published reports, some 110,000 persons who had been detained as “rightists" were released in June 1978, and by the end of June 1980 people's courts at various levels had reviewed over 1.13 million criminal convictions meted out during the Cultural Revolution and redressed over 251,000 of them.10 In early 1979, political and civil rights were restored to landlords and rich peasants and their descendants as long as they supported socialism. Also, in July 1979, the NPC adopted seven major laws including a Criminal Code, a Criminal Code of Procedure, an Organic Law of People's Courts, and an Organic Law of People's Procuratorates, which took effect in January 1980." By the end of 1980, there were over twenty law departments and institutes producing personnel to meet the needs of the new system. A system of people's lawyers was reinstituted in 1979 and legal
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