wechat ID:
lawinamin
Today we shall talk about the whole process of conviction in China, from police to prosecutor and finally trial at court. This is going to be a long video as it is a complicated process, and I want you to understand exactly what happens at each stage.
There are 3 stages for a criminal case. The police first arrests and detains you for a suspected crime, then the case is moved to the prosecutor, who decides whether or not you need to be prosecuted by the country for your crimes, and finally a judge decides whether or not you are guilty. Basically the police prepares the ingredients like the meat and vegetables, the prosecutor cooks the food in the oven, and the court serves the dish to you on a silver platter.
When a victim reports a criminal case to the Public Security Bureau, PSB in short, it usually takes no longer than 3 days for the PSB to investigate and file a case. This period can be extended for another 7 days if evidence needs verifying, and up to 30 for significant and important cases. If the police decide not to file a case, they will issue a notice of not filing and deliver to the victim. On the other hand, if the police decide that there is criminal activity, they will come and arrest you.
The police can detain suspects for up to 37 days before the prosecutor approves the arrest. Normally speaking, after you are detained, the police will file an arrest request for prosecutor’s review and approval within 3 days. Under special circumstances, the filing time can be extended by 4 days. However, if you are suspected of committing crimes in multiple places, being a repeat offender or being part of a gang, up to 37 days detention can be allowed before official arrest.
After official arrest, you may be detained for up to 13.5 days before formal charges are laid and the case is transferred to the court. When you are detained, you will usually be taken to a detention facility and your passport will be confiscated by the police. After arrest, the police have up to 7 months to conduct an investigation before a case must be sent to a prosecutor. You may apply for release on bail by providing a cash deposit or an individual guarantor.
During bail, you will be required to comply with a series of restrictions including appearing before the prosecutor or court when summoned, not leaving the city or county where you reside and reporting any change of residential address to the police, and be instructed not to visit certain places or meet with certain people. If you violate these restrictions, you will forfeit your cash deposit and be subject to residential surveillance or other punishment.
If you meet the conditions for bail but cannot pay the cash deposit nor provide an individual guarantor, you may be placed under residential surveillance. Residential surveillance is basically placing you at home with some guards outside to prevent you from leaving. Chinese law provides for a maximum of 12 months for bail and 6 months for residential surveillance.
After the case is transferred to the prosecutor for review, he has to decide within 1.5 months whether or not to prosecute. The prosecutor can refuse to issue an indictment and send the case back to the police if he thinks that extra investigation is needed for up to 2 times. In this case, the timeline will be recalculated, so it can take up to 13.5 months from official arrest to criminal trial.
Moving forward to court, a criminal trial consists of five parts, which are the court-opening session, court investigation, court debate, final statement of defendant and judgment pronouncement. There may be more than one court hearing during a trial. The judgement, including sentencing, is normally pronounced during a final court hearing held specifically for this purpose, and is sometimes presented to you in written form only.
The court has 2 to 6 months, from the date a case is transferred to the court to hold court hearings and issue an initial judgment. This timeline is impacted by the severity and complexity of a case. After the judgement is issued, you have the right to file an appeal within 10 days from the day of receipt. The prosecutor can also appeal the judgement if he thinks the sentence is not long enough or the crime is incorrect. The appeal takes around 2 to 4 months, and can even be longer with approval from the Supreme court.