Criminal Justice

Local authorities in Shaanxi province released Beijing lawyer Zhu Jiuhu on September 19, according to the South China Morning Post. Before he was detained in May 2005, Zhu had represented thousands of investors in a sensitive administrative lawsuit challenging the government seizure of more than 5,000 privately run oil fields (see related story here). According to the SCMP and the Epoch Times, Zhu, who is charged with "illegal assembly" and "disturbing social order," was released on bail but prohibited from leaving Beijing or being interviewed in the news media. The restrictions on Zhu will effectively prevent him from representing the investors in the Shaanxi case, which some observers view as a test of the Chinese government's rhetoric on improving protections for private property rights.

The Sichuan province high court, procuratorate, and public security bureau have issued a joint opinion that in theory prohibits the use of oral evidence obtained through illegal means and strengthens other protections for criminal defendants, according to a Procuratorial Daily article. The announcement comes in the wake of a national uproar over recent revelations that courts wrongfully convicted two Chinese men of murder in part on the basis of confessions obtained through torture (see related stories on the Nie Shubin and She Xianglin cases - 1, 2, 3). The cases have sparked widespread criticism of China’s criminal justice system and the continuing problem of torture there.

According to this article from a Chinese anti-corruption Web site, the Jiangsu province Communist Party Disciplinary and Inspection Committee forwarded a corruption case involving the former vice mayor of Suzhou city to the procuracy for "investigation and disposition according to law." The official is charged with misuse of his office to benefit his son's private business. A tip from a private citizen in early 2004 evidently led the Jiangsu Provincial Committee on Discipline and Inspection to review the case for several months before deciding in August 2004 to begin a formal investigation. Government authorities in Jiangsu province, Suzhou city, and Wuxi city cooperated to "break" the case. This case shows how the Party manages an initial period of investigation when high Party officials are implicated.

The China Youth Daily reports a prominent defense lawyer's views on why leading cadres fall into corrupt practices. His article helps to understand the climate of impunity surrounding leading cadres in China.

The lawyer, who had respresented Liu Fangren and Cheng Kejie in well-known corruption cases, notes that, even after his arrest, Liu Fangren worried that hiring a lawyer would anger the Party organization. Hiring a lawyer might reveal a poor attitude, a sense that he was resisting the organization.

This article on gambling alleges that some 600 billion yuan (US $72.49 billion) annually has been flowing out of China into gambling venues in Hong Kong, Macao, and outside of China. The writer says that the CCP's Central Disciplinary and Inspection Commission moved in January 2005 to stem the growing problem by making it clear that the Party will dismiss members and cadres whom authorities catch gambling. The Party evidently will treat members and cadres who gamble outside China even more strictly, according to the article. Government and Party concern stems not only from the significant cash outflow but also from notorious recent cases of prominent officials who have been prosecuted for using public funds to gamble in Macao and elsewhere.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, is scheduled to visit China from November 21 to December 2, 2005, according to an August 22 United Nations press release. Nowak will visit government officials, representatives of civil society, and detention centers in Beijing, Jinan, Urumqi, Yining, and Lhasa and will submit a comprehensive report to the Commission on Human Rights in 2006, according to the U.N. release.

Mr. Nowak and his predecessor, Theo van Boven, have long negotiated with the Chinese government for permission to make an investigative visit to China. In March 2004, the Chinese government agreed to a visit by van Boven. It later postponed the visit with a pledge to reschedule it before the end of 2004, citing the need for additional preparations and the difficulty of coordinating the visit among local authorities. Mr. Nowak succeeded van Boven in December 2004.

The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) is in the process of adding two new criminal tribunals and several hundred new judges as it prepares to take back the power to review all death penalty decisions, according to an article in the Chengdu Daily. The new tribunals will be located in Beijing. An SPC research division is compiling a draft implementation opinion that lays out the mechanics of the procedural reform. This opinion will reportedly be submitted to central Party officials for approval in the second half of this year. In October, related amendments to the Organic Law of the People’s Courts will be submitted for NPC Standing Committee deliberation. The article suggests that the SPC may take back the power to review all death sentences by next year.

A Chinese scholar who has participated in discussions on the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law has said that a requirement that witnesses appear in court is very likely to be written into the law, according to a China Youth Daily report. The scholar notes that the failure of witnesses to appear in court is a "chronic disease" in the judicial process and has made it difficult to establish an adversarial framework in China’s criminal justice system. If witnesses do not appear in court, he concludes, defense lawyers cannot cross-examine them, and judges find it more difficult to evaluate the veracity of witness testimony. The scholar sees this as a key flaw in the criminal justice system.