The following is a partial translation prepared by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of "Certain Provisions Regarding the Prevention and Correction of Extended Detention in Procuratorial Work," passed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on September 24, 2003. The Chinese text was retrieved from an Anhui provincial government Web site on June 20, 2006.
I. In order to correctly apply arrest measures in strict accordance with law, people's procuratorates at each level shall apply arrest and other compulsory measures depriving a person of their liberty in strict accordance with the relevant provisions of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law. They shall, in accordance with law, comprehensively and correctly grasp the conditions for making an arrest, cautiously use arrest measures, and only apply arrest measures when there is indeed a need for an arrest. Case-handling personnel shall establish consciousness regarding the safeguarding of human rights, increase the efficiency of case handling, and handle and conclude cases quickly, in accordance with law. Violating the conditions established by law and regulation, by misusing return of a case for supplementary investigation, discovery of new crimes, transfer of jurisdiction, and other methods that disguise the extended detention of a criminal suspect, is strictly prohibited. In cases where an arrest has already been made, but, through investigation or examination, it was deemed that the case does not constitute a crime or does not require investigation into criminal liability, or that the evidence is insufficient [to support the case] or the case does not meet the conditions for prosecution, the case shall be withdrawn or a decision shall be made not to prosecute in accordance with law, and the criminal suspect shall be released if in detention.
III. In order to put into effect the system for sharing information about the status of a detention, after a people's procuratorate has restarted the investigative detention clock in a case where the criminal suspect has been arrested, or the procuratorate has made a decision to, or approved, prolonging the period of investigative detention, the investigative department shall, within three days, send written notification of the relevant status to [the Supreme People's Procuratorate] Procuratorial Office for Prisons and Jails. After a people's procuratorate has decided to prolong the period for examination before prosecution, transfer jurisdiction, or return a case for supplementary investigation and restart the clock on examination before prosecution, the public prosecution department shall, within three days, send written notification of the relevant status to [the Supreme People's Procuratorate] Procuratorial Office for Prisons and Jails. Where the criminal suspect is in detention in another jurisdiction, the case-handling agency shall send written notification of the relevant detention status to the procuratorial office for prisons and jails, at the people's procuratorate in the jurisdiction of detention. If the people's procuratorate in the jurisdiction of detention discovers that the detention has exceeded time limits, it shall promptly report to, or notify, the procuratorial office for prisons and jails, at the people's procuratorate that made the detention decision. The procuratorial office for prisons and jails, at the people's procuratorate that made the detention decision, shall produce a correcting opinion. If the people's procuratorate has established an intranet, the relevant department can use the intranet to report, or make an inquiry into, the detention status.
VII. In order to establish a complaint and correction mechanism for extended detentions, if a criminal suspect and his legal representative or near relatives, or the lawyer entrusted by the criminal suspect and his criminal defender, believe that the detention has exceeded time limits, they have the right to complain to the people's procuratorate that made the decision to arrest, or to the next higher-level people's procuratorate, and demand relief from the relevant compulsory measures. A criminal suspect in detention may arrange a meeting with the on-site procuratorate personnel to launch a complaint regarding an extended detention. The procuratorial office for prisons and jails, at the people's procuratorate, is charged with receiving complaints about extended detentions, and shall accept the complaint materials or make a record of the content of the complaint. It shall promptly investigate the complaint and put forward a resolving opinion, for resolution by the Procurator General. If the Procurator General determines that the detention exceeds time limits, he shall immediately make a decision to release the criminal suspect or modify the compulsory measures. After the procuratorial office for prisons and jails, at the people's procuratorate, has dealt with the complaint, it shall promptly provide feedback through a resolving opinion to the complainant.
VIII. In order to put into effect the system for investigating liability for extended detentions, and to further strengthen and carry out the system for investigating liability for extended detentions, there shall be strict prosecution and investigation of the relevant personnel responsible for extended detentions. In cases where the Criminal Procedure Law and these provisions have been violated, and there has been an abuse of power or a serious failure to perform responsibilities, and this brings about the extended detention of a criminal suspect, there shall be investigation into disciplinary liability against the supervisory party who is directly responsible and other personnel who are directly responsible. Where [the actions] constitute a crime, there shall be investigation into criminal liability under provisions on abuse of power or neglect of duty, in Article 397 of the PRC Criminal Law.