Plea-bargaining pilot unblocking courts
Print Edition
China’s pilot program of plea bargaining in criminal cases over the past year has greatly improved litigation efficiency and enabled more reasonable allocation of judicial resources, Chief Justice Zhou Qiang says.
It took 26 days on average for prosecuting process to deal with such cases, and 83.5 percent were adjudicated by courts within 15 days, said Zhou, president of the Supreme People’s Court, briefing lawmakers about the reform.
In September 2016, the top legislature approved a two-year pilot program to allow suspects to plead guilty in return for a lesser charge in 18 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.
Under the program, suspects and defendants who are willing to confess, agree with prosecutors’ charging and sentencing proposals, and sign affidavits, will be given lesser punishments.
Defendants who face jail terms of three years or below fall under the pilot.
As of November, 281 courts and 281 procuratorates have been chosen to pilot the reform, and 91,121 cases involving 103,496 suspects have been dealt with under the pilot, accounting for 45 percent of cases handled by the designated courts, the report says.
In an effort to ensure rights of suspects and defendants, 630 judicial assistance stations were set up in detention centers, courts and procuratorates in the 18 cities.
Zhou said the SPC and Supreme People’s Procuratorate would step up oversight on judges and prosecutors to prevent judicial corruption and power abuse.
The report was submitted to the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Although China has seen a fall in serious criminal cases threatening social order, the number of minor cases is still large and they are not always efficiently dealt with by understaffed judicial departments.
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