Useful Links
News-English
News-Chinese
Human Rights
US Government
International NGO
US-Sino Organizations
Religious/Spiritual
Labor
Minority Nationalities
Tibet
Uyghur
Law Reform
Media Studies
Legal Resources
Academic
Thinktank
|
|
|
|
Human Rights and Rule of Law - News and
Analysis
China Youth Daily Takes Aim at Scholar Opinions in Criminal Cases
The China Youth Daily (CYD) has published a commentary questioning the hiring of committees of legal scholars to produce "expert opinions" in criminal cases. Scholarly committees submit such opinions, which typically address both factual and legal issues in individual criminal cases, to courts adjudicating the cases. The CYD commentator concludes that courts should not accept such opinions for several reasons. First, scholars are authoritative and have influence, so the submission of expert opinions is in fact a form of interference with the independence of the court. Second, because defendants pay the experts, the opinions are not an objective research product. Third, the commentator notes that wealthy defendants tend to hire such scholarly committees and thus gain an unfair advantage. The commentary concludes that while defendants should be able to request such opinions for themselves and incorporate them into their legal arguments, courts should not accept separate advisory opinions from scholar committees.
A growing number of criminal defendants have solicited such opinions in recent years, including mafia boss Liu Yong, defense lawyer Zhang Jianzhong, and imprisoned American businessman Jude Shao. Because scholarly opinion is accepted as a source of law in civil law systems, and many judges are former students of prominent legal scholars, such opinions can have significant influence in China. Particularly in sensitive criminal cases, scholarly opinions can help counterbalance the powers of prosecutors, who enjoy immense advantages over defendants and their attorneys. One example of such a committee is the Expert Research and Consultation Committee on Difficult Criminal Law Questions at Beijing's Renmin University.
| Source: -See Summary (2005-06-08 ) |
Posted on: 2005-07-01 |
 |
|
| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=14740 |
|
Back To Top
Previous Page