National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2016-2020)

(2) Right to fair trial

Following the rule of judicial operation, an adjudication-centered litigation system shall be established, and judicial credibility shall be enhanced.

・ Ensuring the people's courts exercise adjudicative power independently and in accordance with the law. The system that archives leading officials' intervention in judicial activities and in the handling of particular cases shall be improved, making them known to the public, and holding them accountable. The limits of authority at all levels within the judicial bodies shall be clearly defined. The mechanism of internal checks and oversight shall be improved, so shall the recording and accountability systems regarding judicial personnel who intervene in case handling.

・ Standardizing judicial interpretation and case guidance, and unifying the criteria for the application of the law.

・ Implementing the principle of evidentiary adjudication. The principles of testimony and trial in court shall be implemented, so shall the system of court appearance of witnesses and authenticators.

・ Implementing the principle of presumption of innocence, and the rule of exclusion of illegally obtained evidence, and specifying the scope and exclusion procedures of illegal evidence.

・ Enhancing institutional guarantee for lawyers' rights to know, apply and appeal throughout the course of litigation, ensuring their access to criminal suspects or defendants, and rights to review files, collect evidence, raise questions, conduct cross-examinations and debate, and ensuring lawyers exercise their rights of defense and procuration in accordance with the law. The mechanism of valuing lawyers' defense and procuration opinions in investigation, prosecution and trial shall be improved, and the system of listening to their opinions shall be observed. Discriminatory security checks of lawyers are prohibited, in order to provide convenience for them to perform their duties in accordance with the law.

・ Enhancing institutional guarantee for the rights of litigants and other parties involved in the lawsuit to know, present views, debate and defense, apply and appeal, and implementing regulations on legal aid prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Law and related rules and regulations.

・ Improving the practice of leniency to those who confess their crimes and submit to punishment in criminal proceedings. The judicial proceedings, penalty standards and handling means shall be clarified for cases where defendants plead guilty, accept punishment, surrender ill-gotten gains or pay compensation, all of their own accord.

・ Pressing further forward with standardization in meting out punishment, regularizing the judges' sentencing discretion, improving sentencing procedures, and enhancing openness and impartiality in sentencing.

・ Prohibiting defendants who are held in custody or appellants from appearing in court wearing clothing that bear the logo of their organs of custody.

・ Improving the mechanism for fast-track handling of minor criminal cases, and reforming fast-track trial procedures for criminal cases in an orderly manner.

・ Formulating the Law on Assistance for Victims of Crime, and establishing a unified, procedure-based relief system for victims of crime.