Criminal Procedure Reform in the People's Republic of China: The Dilemma of Crime Control and Regime Legitimacy

Abstract

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE REFORM IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: THE DILEMMA OF CRIME CONTROL AND REGIME LEGITIMACY Mike P. H. Chut I. INTRODUCTION During the era of reforms in China and the resulting rapid social changes, criminal law and proceedings have primarily been used as an instrument to combat the upsurge in crime and cor- ruption, and to punish individuals that have had the temerity to challenge Party rule. In effect, criminal institutions have been widely regarded as an important discretionary instrument of the Communist Party to institute social and political order.' It is only through recent developments in China's criminal procedure that the Party has recognized and elevated the rights of criminal suspects against the interests of the state. Changes in China's criminal procedure constitute a critical component of the whole legal reform package and reflect how the regime will respect its commitment to the protection of human rights and the develop- ment of the rule of law. This study approaches the question of human rights and the rule of law in China by examining aspects of due process, equal- t Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science at the University of Chi- cago. B.A. 1994, University of California at Berkeley. M.A. 1995, Stanford Univer- sity. The author would like to express his thanks to those who organized the interviews in China and to the interviewees who took time to reveal aspects of legal change in China. The author is also grateful to Professor Dali Yang, Yuan Bai, and Fubing Su for their constructive comments on earlier drafts, and to his family mem- bers for their support. 1. See generally Donald C. Clarke & James V. Feinerman, Antagonistic Con- tradictions: Criminal Law and Human Rights in China, 141 CHINA Q. 135, 152-3 (1995). See also LAWYERS COMM. HUMAN RIGHTS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE WITH CHI- NESE CHARACTERISTICS: CHINA'S CRIMINAL PROCESS AND VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN 1, 2 (1993); Xu Youjun, Zhongguo Xingshi Susong yu Renquan [China's Criminal Procedure and Human Rights], 2 ZHONGWAI FAXUE [Peking University RIGHTS Law Journal] 38, 38-43 (1992); No ONE AMNESTY INT'L, CHINA, REPRESSION AND ABUSE OF POWER IN THE 1990S 9 IS SAFE: POLITICAL