Torture and Exclusion of Evidence in China

Abstract

Criminal justice has always been a focus of China’s legal reform, and a serious problem in China’s criminal justice system is police torture and coercive confessions. Almost all of the wrongful convictions that China has identified involve torture of some sort and involuntary confessions. To prevent wrongful convictions, China has implemented exclusionary rules against illegally obtained evidence since 2010, among other mechanisms. Part I of this article provides a historical overview of the problem of torture and anti-torture efforts in China. Part II traces the evolution of exclusionary rules in China and discusses various factors leading to their evolution. Part III evaluates the degree to which exclusionary rules have been implemented in practice based on empirical findings, and analyses the impact of such implementation on both judicial authorities and defence lawyers. Part IV introduces and comments on a series of legislative efforts to address difficulties in implementing the exclusionary rules, including the recently released implementing guideline. Part V puts forward some proposals for further reforms for stricter implementation of exclusionary rules.