How Public Is A Court Trial In China?

ICJ702 Student presentationRan Hu

March 11, 2014

Overview

• Research methodology and data assessment • How has public trial been developed?• What are the functions of public trial in different

time periods? • How is public trial regulated in laws? • How is public trial implemented?• Conclusion • Discussion question• Sources

Statement of the topic

How public is a court trial in China?

Research Methodology

• Literature review (1966-2013)

- academic research papers

- Chinese legal documents

- news/articles from Chinese mainstream social media (including those controlled by the Communist Party)

Assessment of the data

• Diversified sources • Literatures in different time periods• Western perspective vs. Chinese

perspective• No first-hand data

Public Trial: Development and Functions

• 1950s The People’s Republic of China - the earliest public trial policy (1954 Constitution)

- “internal administrative proceeding” before public trial

- mass trial

- main functions:

consolidate the Party’s leadership

“crush political opposition”

Public Trial: Development and Functions (cont.)

• 1960s-1970s Cultural Revolution

- all legal institutions were abolished

- court trial: either “done in secret” or

misused as ”ceremonial device” (public trial)

- main functions

mass education on Communist Party’s leadership

raise political consciousness

e.g. hunt for class enemies

Public Trial: Development and Functions (cont.)

• Post-1978 Opening Up and Reform - revised & re-passed laws

- reestablished legal institutions

- organic Law of the People’s Courts:

details regarding open trial

- main functions:

recover “judicial transparency”

professional education and development

Public Trial: Development and Functions (cont.)

• 1990s – Now

- Social Media (e.g. Internet) is involved

- more detailed policies

e.g. how citizens attend trials

evaluate judicial openness (Public trial 20/100)

- main functions

protect people’s rights to judicial democracy

facilitate citizens’ participation

build positive images of judicial system

Public Trial’s Main Function:

Political ruling

Judicial justice

1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s… Now…

Communist Party of China

Public Trial: Definition

• Defining “public trial”

- the entire process

e.g. “evidence openly submitted, question the witnesses openly, and announce all judgments openly”

- heard in public

- to public auditing (citizens)

- to the press

- for non-public trial: reasons need to be announced

Public Trial: Principles

• All Trials need to be made public:

- case outline, defendants/attorneys/judges, time and place

• Unless exceptional circumstances: - state secrets

- business/commercial secrets

- personal privacy

- minors involved

* Violations of the rules of trial in public case reopen/retrial

Public Trial: Implementation

• Court Model Standard Assessment

- score local courts; performances ranking

• Use of Social Media

- online trial documentation; live TV or Internet broadcasts of trials

• Practice of unwritten rules

- “gatekeeper” system: “observer pass” application (e.g. Liu Xiaobo’s trial)

- selectively public (sensitive cases vs. non-sensitive cases)

- purposefully public

(e.g. anti-governmental corruption: Bo Xilai’s Trial)

• Overuse of “state secrets”

Public Trial: Conclusion

• the main functions vary over time• challenges in the implementation of public trial• Communist Party’s control vs. judicial

independence • social media’s controversial role

Discussion Question

1. China has a strict Internet censorship system remaining subject to Communist Party’s control. Under such circumstances, how Internet can be used in facilitating trial openness in China?

Sources1. Hou, S., & Keith, R. C. (2012). A new prospect for transparent court judgment in China?. China Information, 26(1), 61-86.

3. Zhang, Q. (2003). The people's court in transition: the prospects of the Chinese judicial reform. Journal of Contemporary China, 12(34), 69-101.

2. Dingjian, C. (1999). Development of the Chinese legal system since 1979 and its current crisis and transformation. Cultural Dynamics, 11(2), 135-166.

4. Jones, W. C. (1976). A Possible Model for the Criminal Trial in the People's Republic of China. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 229-245.

5. Cohen, J. A. (1966). The criminal process in the People's Republic of China: an introduction. Harvard Law Review, 469-533.

6. Rojek, D. G. (1985). The criminal process in the People's Republic of China.

7. Keyuan, Z. (2000, September). Judicial reform versus judicial corruption: Recent developments in China. In Criminal Law Forum (Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 323-351). Springer Netherlands.

8. Duan, Z. (2013). The rise of the internet and its impact on the openness of the justice system in mainland China: improvements and limitations. Journal of Open Access to Law, 1(1).

9. Belkin, I. (2000). China's Criminal Justice System: A Work in Progress. Washington Journal of Modern China, 6(2), 1-24.

10. Organic Law of The People’s Courts of China. (1980). Retrieved on March 1 from http://www.npc.gov.cn/wxzl/gongbao/2006-12/05/content_5354938.htm

11. Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China. (1979). Retrieved on March 2 from http://www.cecc.gov/resources/legal-provisions/criminal-procedure-law-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china12. Dui Hua Foundation. (2009, February). Promoting Increased Transparency in China’s Criminal Justice System. Retrieved on March 8, 2014 from http://duihua.org/wp/?page_id=2536

13. Song Xiaoxin: Criminal Trial Reform in China. Retrieved on March 5 from http://xhfy.xh.sh.cn/html/xh_rmfy/xh_rmfy_yxfg_lsz/2013-07-29/Detail_133634.htm (In Chinese)

16. Regulations on Public Trial and Sentence. (1999). Retrieved on march 6 from http://www.lawlib.zju.edu.cn/%E8%B5%84%E6%B2%BB%E6%B3%95%E5%85%B8/cd3/Product6/Law/14_criminal_law/16_decide/16_decide1513.htm

15. Six Requirements on Judicial Openness. (2009). Retrieved on march 5 from http://www.china.com.cn/policy/txt/2009-12/23/content_19120679.htm

14. Building of Political Democracy in China. Retrieved on March 3 from http://english.people.com.cn/whitepaper/democracy/democracy(10).html

Sources (cont.)

Sources (cont.)

Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF_hLiBrRdg