PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERSRESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 56

THE FRAMEWORK AND CURRENT SITUATION OF CHINA’SCRIME PREVENTION
Wang Ping*
I. INTRODUCTION
The increase of crimes is a challenge theworld faces today. How to prevent andreduce crimes is also an important issue
for the Chinese government to tackle. It isalso an important issue regarding how tomake the offenders, who are under punitive
sanction due to their violation of law,completely correct their deviant behavior
and conscience, and help them take on thecorrect ideological and life track to return
to society, so as to prevent them fromrecommitting crimes. This not only
requires the government’s effort but also
the participation of the whole society.
China has 580 million juveniles under
the age of 25, accounting for about half ofthe country’s population. The problem withadolescents has always been a focal pointin overall control of social public security.
Juvenile delinquency has made up 70-80%
of all the criminal crimes, which is very
serious. Surveys indicate that at the
begining of the 1990s, the age of the subjectof crime has tended to become younger.
Juveniles aged around 18 have become themain body of offenders, most of whom band
together to commit crimes and employ
similar means to those of adults. How totake effective measures and prevent
juvenile delinquency is an urgent problem
the Chinese government should solve.
Therefore, this paprer shall also discuss theprevention of juvenile delinquency andprotection of adolescents in China.

* Judge, No. 1 Criminal Adjudication Division of
Beijing Higher People’s Court, Peoples’ Republic ofChina.

204

II. THE PREVENTION OF CRIMESAND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
China mainly executes the policy ofoverall control of social public security inthe prevention of crimes. That ispreventing, controlling and punishingcriminal crimes, under the leadership of
the government and participated in by all
the people of society, by using economic,
administrative, legal, cultural andeducational means.
To mobilize society to prevent crimes, themost important thing is to have a common
understanding. People are prompted to beaware that crimes occur due to extensivesocial causes. The sole effort of law
enforcement is by no means enough toprevent and curb crimes. Only bymobilizing the whole society can this work
be done effectively. Second, China hasestablished a complete, systematic andeffective mechanism of overall social public
security at various levels of theadministrative jurisdiction. As amechanism, it is a macro-social project
involving various systems anddepartments. The departments concerned,
which are relatively independent but interrelated, have specific work targets, tasks
and methods.
The overall control of social public
security is a theory which is promoted by
the Chinese government and has been
proved correct in practice. An operationalframework has been formed on the basisof this theory. Naturally, the great
importance attached to this policy by thegovernments at the central and lower
levels, and the extensive participation of

112TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
the people, are the premise and basis forestablishing and improving thismechanism.

unfavourable impact on society andoptimize the social environment. Methods
to do this are:III. MOBILIZING SOCIETY(i) Intensify control over the cultural
market to prevent vulgar, low-taste
and pornographic books and journals
from flowing into society, whiledeveloping and building healthy
cultural establishments;(ii) Strengthen the management of theartistic market, conduct a clean-up
and rectification of the ballrooms,
film and video halls, game halls andbilliard halls;(iii) Mobilize the whole society to show
concern for the growth of youngsters;organize outstanding figures in theolder-generation to form associations
or groups caring for the younger
generation; make use of various
forms to enhance the moral educationof them;(iv) I m p r o v e t h e c o n t r o l o f o v e r population. The judicial organs shallobtain information about school
dropouts, students with misdeeds,
juvenile delinquents and offenders
released from labour camps; keep arecord about them and determine thekey targets who are to be helped andeducated on preventing crimes. The
transient population shall also be
included in this management.

Joint efforts of the police and the masses,
China’s judicial system is composed of the
public security bureaux, procuratorates
and courts. The public security bodies aremost closely connected with society. The
grass-roots organs of the public security
bureaux are the local police stations andthe police, which are most closely linked
with the local people.
Each street community and village haveneighbourhood (villagers’) committees,
which are the grass-roots public ordermaintaining organizations joined in by thepeople. The residents of theseorganizations co-operate with the police
and are jointly responsible for social
stability. In case any sign of crime isdetected, most of the initial information of
it is provided by these residential
organizations. At the same time, legal
publicity and law promotion education,
especially for youngsters, are done by thesegrass-roots organizations in co-operation
with the public security organs,procuratorates and courts. As a result, theefforts of the police and the participationof the whole society are more systemized
and legalized in China.
A. Strengthening Culture andEthicsMoral education, strict control of social
order and purpose management make animportant line of defence to prevent crimes.
Various measures should be taken to
conduct moral education on the premisethat persistent efforts must be put on thereform policy and the building of thesocialist market economy, in a bid toovercome the negative effect and factors oft h e m a r k e t e c o n o m y, r e d u c e i t s

B. Strengthen Education andManagement of Adolescents
Effective prevention of crime begins withthe prevention of juvenile delinquency. The
education of adolescents is a matter
concerning the country’s future and theflourishing or decline of a nation. Everyone
bears his/her share of the responsibility foreducating adolescents. One’s growthcannot occur without the family, schools
and society, which affect early educationand growth. Good work in these three
aspects would result in the effective

205

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 56
prevention of juvenile delinquency.
1. Attach Importance to the Role of the
FamilyThe Chinese government has been
attaching great importance to family
construction and improving the quality ofparents. The family is what a child firstencounters and forms the first line ofdefence for juvenile delinquency. Family
background and parents’ speech and image
exercise invisible and formative influence
over the child’s psychology, character,hobbies and even morality. Therefore, theparents should undertake their first
responsibility to society, i.e learning how
to become good parents and teachers of
their children. Family ethical education
is of important significance in preventing
juvenile delinquency. The specificmeasures are:(i) In the countryside, such activities
shall be conducted as to encourage
farmers to acquire elementary
education, learn technologies andshare with each other in performanceand contributions. In the urban
areas, activities to be carried out suchas giving commendation to advanced
parents and setting up typical model
parents;(ii) Social guidance shall be offered toparents’ role in the family to
encourage a civilized, healthy andscientific way of life;(iii) A c t i v i t i e s o f r i c h v a r i e t y a r e
conducted for family ethicaleducation;(iv) Spare-time parent schools are built
so parents shall receive training andlearn the correct ways to educate
children and have their sense offamily education enhanced.
2. Emphasis on Legal Education in
Schools
The function of schools is to educate the206

people. The cultural and ethical educationin the schools is of especially importantsignificance. Schools are the second lineof defence to prevent juvenile delinquency.
At present, most of the college and middle
schools are devoting much attention tointensifying legal education and increasing
the legal awareness of the students. Legalknowledge has become an indispensable
part of the moral education and curriculain the colleges and universities. The
purpose of spreading legal knowledge is not
only to let the youth know what constitutes
crime, but to encourage them to fightagainst crimes and unhealthy habits andpractices. The State Education
Commission required that the schools
should transfer their purposes of educationfrom examination-oriented to quality
education. Now schools have began tostress the students’ ethical and moral
education in a bid to publicize legal
knowledge and prevent and reduce juvenile
delinquency.
Through contact with various types ofjuvenile delinquents, we know that a large
number become ‘the accused’ as a result of
their complete ignorance of the law. The
people’s courts, at various levels, haveactively participated in the work of overall
control of social public order andpublicizing legal knowledge, and exert
great efforts in preventing juvenile
delinquency in the following two aspects:(i) Judicial personnel have gone to theschools and communities to givelectures. In Beijing alone, theadjudication personnel of the juvenile
courts have given more than 300
lectures to more than 170,000 people
in middle and primary schools in thepast decade. Some of them have alsogone to the parks and streets duringholidays to answer people’s questions
concerning law.

112TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS(ii) Courts take part in the activities ofbroadening and enriching thestudents’ legal knowledge in schools.
The schools invite judicial
functionaries as the judicial
propagandists to explain legal
knowledge, help and educate thestudents involved in illegal activities.
The courts offer legal consulting on
an irregular basis to assist schools inorganizing and drafting plans for law
publicity work.
IV. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN
THE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
A. The Improvement and Perfectionof China’s Criminal Procedure
Legislature
In 1996, China made necessary revisionof the Criminal Procedure Law passed in
1979, so as to probe criminal facts moreaccurately and timely. The revision wasmade on perfecting enforcement measures,investigative measures, terms of custodyand for guaranteeing the rights ofparticipants in proceedings. The revision
further clarifies the position and role,division of work and restrictions of public
security bodies, procuratorates and courtsin the criminal proceedings.
The court hearing methods have been
perfected to intensify the defence of the twoparties so that the three functions of theprocedure - accusing, defending andadjudication - can be better played andensure that the facts are objectively andfairly judged, and that laws are applied
accurately. Let us take a look at therevision of the 1996 Criminal Procedure
Law on the system of advocacy. According
to Article 33 of the Criminal Procedure law:“A criminal suspect in a case of publicprosecution shall have the right toentrust persons as his defenders, fromthe date on which the case istransferred for examination before
prosecution. A defendant in a case ofprivate prosecution shall have theright to entrust persons as his
defenders at any time. A people’s
procuratorate shall, within three days
from the date of receiving the filerecord of a case transferred for
examination before prosecution,
inform the criminal suspect that hehas the right to entrust his defenders.
A people’s court shall, within threedays from the date of accepting a caseof private prosecution, inform thedefendant that he has the right toentrust his defenders.”
Article 96 stipulates:“After the criminal suspect isinterrogated by an investigation bodyfor the first time or from the day on
which enforcement measures are
adopted against him, he may appointa lawyer to provide him legal advice,or to act as his attorney to filecomplaints or charges. Whenever thecriminal suspect is arrested, theappointed lawyer may apply on hisbehalf for obtaining a guarantor andawaiting trial out of custody.”
In accordance with these stipulations,the lawyer may, in a case of publicprosecution, be involved in the procedure
as a defender as early as on the date theprocuratorate receives the file record of acase transferred by the public security bodyor its investigation organs. While in a caseof private prosecution, the lawyer may be
involved in the procedure within three days
from the date of the people’s court’s
accepting the case. In addition, the lawyers
in a public prosecution can also be
appointed by the criminal suspects to be
the legal adviser, so that s/he may be
involved at the stage of investigation andoffer legal aid to the criminal suspects.

207

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 56
This is greatly advanced compared with the1979 Criminal Procedure Law. These
revisions push a great leap forward for
China’s system of advocacy. From thelegislative point of view, we can see thecurrent law has greatly enhanced openness
and transparency in the pre-adjudication
activities such as crime detection, casereview and decision-making forprosecution; and has increased thepossibilities for public participation to meetthe purpose of punishing criminals andprotecting the innocent.
B. Mobilizing the Public to Control
CrimesChina’s Criminal Procedure Law
stipulates that: the governmental
departments, organizations, enterprises,
institutions and critics have the right andare obliged to find out the criminal facts or
criminal suspects and bring charges
against them to the public security bodies,
people’s procuratorates and people’s courts.
These three bodies should accept the
charges, accusations and voluntary
surrender of the offenders. In each city,and even each district in China, there are
mail boxes for accusation reports andhotlines. Once the public discover criminal
phenomena, they can report it to the public
security bodies, procuratorates and courtsin the most convenient way. Since thismeasure was adopted, many major cases
have been detected and adjudicated thanks
to reports from the public. At the sametime, the strict policy and measures toprotect witnesses have guaranteed thesafety of witnesses to a maximum degree.
In China, few cases have been reported
concerning witnesses’ injury by the clients.
The departments have been set up in thep u b l i c s e c u r i t y b o d i e s , p e o p l e ’s
procuratorates and people’s courts to accept
the reporting of information from thepublic. If the information is found true,
investigation shall begin right away. The

208

reporters shall be given an award. In thisway, all the people are encouraged toprevent and punish crimes.
C. Openness and Impartiality of
Administration of Justice
According to the current Criminal
Procedure Law, the people’s courts shallreview cases in public. What China’s
criminal adjudication stresses is theprinciple of impartiality of theadministration of justice and a public trial
system. All the criminal judicial
proceedings and all the processes anddetails are open to the public. Residents,
with their identity cards, can present at
the court as an observer to hear any casebeing trialed (except those which are notheard in the public). This move, placing
China’s judicial proceedings under thesupervision of the public, is beneficial tojudicial openness and impartiality. It isalso a good way to spread legal knowledge
among the public, which plays an indirectrole in preventing crimes. The open trial
has increased the transparency of trial
work, helped enhance the legal awarenessof the citizens and helped democratize thecountry’s judicial system. Reporters canalso cover the cases being tried in public.
D. The Trial Procedure for Juvenile
Delinquents
The prevention of crimes shall now focus
on juvenile delinquency, which has beenrecognized in many countries of the world.
Much has been done and good results havebeen achieved in this regard in China. Thispart deals with the participation of courts,
society and parents in the trial of juvenile
delinquents.
The basic principle of China’s dealing
with juvenile delinquency is “stressing
education while making punishment as thesubsidiary measure.” This principle has
been reflected in Chinese law and thespecial provisions concerning cases of

112TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
juvenile delinquency. China’s Supreme
Peoples Court in its Provisions on Dealing
with Juvenile Criminal Cases emphasizedthat “if the appearance in court of a juvenile
defendant’s adult relatives is beneficial to
the trial work and education of the juvenile
defendant, they shall be permitted orinvited to the court upon approval of the
President of the Adjudication division.”
These relatives shall participate in the
education of the juvenile defendant. The
Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme
People’s Court on the Applicable Laws on
Handling Criminal Cases Involving
Juveniles stipulates that for juvenile
offenders who are sentenced to criminal
detention or imprisonment of less than
three years, if they: behave and mend theirways after committing crimes; theirfamilies have the conditions forguardianship or the social education
measures can be carried out; and theoffenders are believed not to harm thesociety after probation, probation shall beapplied to these delinquents. It is quite
clear that the public is playing a decisiverole in the criminal procedure for juvenile
delinquents. The specific measures are:(i)

Set up special adjudication division
to handle juvenile criminal cases;(ii) The trial of the courts shall reflect the
principle of “stressing education
while making punishment as thesubsidiary measure”;(iii) Make trials a medium of education,
which runs through the trial process;(iv) Guarantee to appoint defenders andtry to invite the agents ad litem totake part in the procedure.
The agents ad litem are usually thejuvenile defendant’s parents, adopted
parents or guardians, who bring up or havecustody of the juvenile defandants. They
mostly have blood relationships or
guardianship. They care about the possible
punishment the defendants may receive

and are keen on saving and educating thedefendants. In the trial of a theft caseinvolving a juvenile, one defender said tothe defendant: “You turn around and takea look at your father who has pined away
because of you.” Hearing this, thedefendant sobbed too bitterly to speak.
Then, the legal agents educated thedefendants with strong affection. The
education during the trial achieved goodresults.
V. SOCIETY’S PARTICIPATION IN
THE REHABILITATION OF
OFFENDERS
A. Widening the Way to Their
Return to Society
How to help an offender get back on theright track of life mentally and physicallywhen they are released from the prison(after serving the full term of a sentence)is an important aspect for preventing andreducing recommitted crimes. Since China
adopted a reform and opening-up policy, theeconomic and social structure has
undergone great changes. This hasbrought both opportunities and newchallenges to the released prisoners. The
challenge is mainly reflected in theiremployment and the form and content of
their education. Merely relying on
governments to find them jobs can nolonger suit the new situation under themarket economy. New channels must be
found for employment.
It is the experience of China that, in lightof the principle of educating, rehabilitating
and redeeming the offender, the released
personnel’s dignity, morality througheducation and ability to solve theirproblems in life are improved. Take Beijing
for example, the settlement rate of the
returned prisoners has reached 84.6%. The
rate in Tianjin is 90%, while in Liaoning
Province, the rate is more than 90%. The‘education through helping’ has greatly
reduced the recommittal rate.
209

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 56
1. Perfecting Legislature and Offering
Guarantees
Starting from the 1950s, China has
worked out clear stipulations on theemployment of returned prisoners. In the
1990s, China established very complete
legislative provisions in this respect. Not
only has the central government worked
out a series of regulations in this respect,
the provincial and municipal government
also have done the same according to theirrespective situations. Many townships andvillages have also formulated their own
rules on settling the released prisoners.
The State enterprises have also set rules
on employing them. All these measures
have provided legal guarantees to thesettlement and education of the returned
prisoners.
2. Leaders Assume Responsibility to
Ensure Participation of Departments
The Chinese government regards thesettlement and education of the released
prisoner as an important part of work
evaluation for regional and department
leaders. A leaders’ responsibility system
has been adopted, linking theirperformance with their promotion, award
or punishment. In Liaoning Provincealone, more than 2,500 leaders above thecounty and division level are engaged inthis work. So far, 16 provinces in the
country have built provincial-levelcompetent departments to settle andeducate returned prisoners.
3. Exploring New Ways for Employment
Under great employment pressure, thegovernment is still requiring local
governments to explore new ways for theemployment of released people. The main
measures are:(i) Intensifying technical training before
they return to society, so that they canacquire one or two practical skills for
employment;

210(ii) Build bases for the temporary
settlement of returned prisoners. In
Shanghai, two transportationcompanies have been built, settling
more than 5,000 returned prisoners;(iii) Give proper preferential treatment tothese people;(iv) Use market fairs to offer employment
opportunities. For example,
Shenyang has fully employed market
fairs as the main channel for offering
employment to the returned
prisoners. The industrial andcommercial administration
departments have actively provided
convenience and conditions for themto find jobs. In the past three years,
the city’s various types of markets
have employed 2,408 such personnel,
who have since then lived a selfreliant and ‘getting-rich-throughlabour’ life.
B. Relatives’ Participation in the
Rehabilitation of Offenders
The offenders’ relatives are encouraged
to and supported in keeping contact withthe offenders serving a sentence; and cooperate with the educators so that those
offenders, especially the juveniles, can feelthe warmth of the family. Lots of cases
indicate that the family factor is an
important factor that leads youngsters tocommit crimes, and that also reforms the
young offenders. As families emerge in thehuman society, the attachment to thefamily has become a common psychologicalcharacteristics of human beings; thedegrees varying among people of different
age groups as well as individuals of thesame age group. After being imprisoned
to serve a sentence, they lose their freedom
and are separated from their families,
leading to stronger attachment to theirfamilies. Whether the family members
care about or visit them will, to a great
extent, affect their feelings andpsychological state. Therefore, to correct

112TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
their anti-social psychology, the prisons andreformatories shall try their best to
encourage, support and instruct theoffenders’ relatives to join in the
rehabilitation work, to keep close contact
with their children, who would feel thisconcern and warmth from them.
This is greatly beneficial to weakening
and eliminating anti-social psychology.
Many persistent offenders andrecommitters have thus mended their ways
and started new lives. Gao, a young farmer,
was sentenced to a three-year-and-sixmonth imprisonment for theft, later eight
years imprisonment was imposed on him
for the offence of fleeing and theft. His wife
divorced him after he was imprisoned,leaving him a one-year old child, andmarried another man living far away fromher native village. At the time of extreme
despair, Gao’s brother and his wife
frequently came to see him, encouraging
him to actively reform himself. They also
helped him raise his child, although they
had already had two children. Later, hisbrother died in a traffic accident. Hissister-in-law, the widow had to foster thethree children on her own. She kept on
visiting her brother-in-law confined inprison. Moved by the care from therelatives and educators, Gao devoted
himself heart and soul to his reform. In
the prison, he was awarded as “excellent
cook,” “excellent stockman” and “reform
activist.” According to the verdict of theintermediate people’s court, he wasreleased on probation and later married his
sister-in-law. With the help of the villagers,
he was hardworking and became well-off.
They said: “Gao has changed to a
hardworking, honest and helpful man.”
C. Proper Penalty Methods for
Juvenile Offenders.
1. Penalty is Not the Aim
When conditions permit, probation ismore frequently adopted in juvenile

delinquency cases so the juvenile offenders
can return to society after serving part ofa term of sentence and reduce unfavourable
factors. The probation system is a method
to execute punishment on the offenders
according to the Criminal Law. Probation
is applied to the offenders who aresentenced to criminal detention or to a
fixed-term imprisonment of less than three
years. Probation may be granted tooffenders according to the circumstancesof their crime and extent of repentance, andthe condition that they shall not do any
harm to society after they are put underprobation.
Probation for juvenile delinquents canyield more positive effects than for adultoffenders. First, they are not isolated fromsociety and their families so that they canadapt themselves to society after long-time
imprisonment. Second, families, units,
enterprises and communities can also bemobilized to educate and help them. Third,
they shall be free from “cross-infection” inthe prison, which is helpful to theirrehabilitation. From 1987 to 1997, thecourts at various levels in Beijing
sentenced 9,045 juvenile delinquents. A
total of 2,014 of them, who were sentenced
to criminal detention or a fixed-term
imprisonment of less than three years,
were put under probation. They accounted
for 22% of the sentenced juveniles, which
was more than 10 percentage points higher
than the adult offenders.
2. M o b i l i z e S o c i e t y i n F o l l o w - u p
Education of Juvenile DelinquentsDuring probation, the courts at various
levels shall continue to educate juvenile
delinquents, although they are not within
the jurisdiction of the courts. Most of thecourts have set up files for education andregularly hear reports about the progressof their rehabilitation. By way of practice,not a single case of recommitment of crime
has occured if the rehabilitation of juvenile211

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 56
delinquents is reported to the court
monthly.
Before the verdict for probation is given
to the juvenile delinquent, the courts shallcontact the school and community where
the juvenile is to settle in their employment
or schooling. At the same time, they shallhelp the receiving units to build education
organizations so that the juveniles underprobation can study or work in a goodenvironment. According to the statistics
for the past 10 years, of the courts in
Beijing, with the help of juvenile courts,
75 of the delinquents under probation wereenrolled in colleges or academic schools,
and one became a postgraduate student.
207 went to senior high schools, vocational
high schools or secondary professional
schools.
3. Joint Efforts In and Outside Prison to
Educate Juvenile Delinquents
In light of the policy of educating andredeeming young offenders and helping
them to change, the courts and prisons cooperate with each other to do educational
work. The adjudication personnel also pay
regular visits to the prisons and award gooddeeds done by the offenders in the courseof their rehabilitation. In 1991, a major
flooding occurred in East China. More than
60 juvenile delinquents at Beijing’s Qinghe
Farm each donated RMB 30 yuan to thevictims there. The people’s court of Xicheng
District in the city of Zhengzhou held ameeting where local leaders had a good talkwith the juvenile delinquents andencouraged them to become useful persons
in society. The 12 juvenile offenders weremoved to tears and said: “We committed
crimes, but the court and people from ourhometown have not abandoned us. They
cared about us and arranged visits for us.
We shall redouble our efforts in reform andtry to perform meritorious service so we canget commutation and probation, and return
to society as soon as possible, to make our212

contribution to the four modernizations of
our country.” On the occasion of festivals
and public holidays, the adjudication
personnel send the juveniles stationary andother gifts to help them to change. As aresult, the juvenile offenders are more
confident about their rehabilitation now
that society has not forgetten about them.
The crime recommitment rate in the pastten years in Beijing is around 2%.
V. AID TO VICTIMS AND VICTIMS’PARTICIPATION IN CRIMINALPROCEEDINGS
China’s Criminal Procedure Law regards
the victim as a party who is bestowed an
independent position in the proceedings.
This is to ensure the victim’s proceduralrights are completely protected. The
victim’s procedural rights are characterized
by independence, transformation,completeness and restriction.
A. Independence
The right to prosecute is an important
procedural right of the victim. This rightis relatively independent in the criminal
procedure. The public prosecution body
exercises the power to prosecute so as tosafeguard the interests of the State, society
and the victim. But it cannot exclude theright of the victim to independently
safeguard their own interest on the basisof their individual stand. This point is ofgreat significance to the judicial bodies
intensifying the protection of victim’s
procedural rights.
B. Transformation of the Right
In a case of public prosecution, the righto f a c t i o n r e s t s w i t h t h e p e o p l e ’s
procuratorate. The victim has the right torequest the bringing of an action. This
right means that the victim enjoys the rightto, over the facts of crime which infringes
upon their personal and property rights,
bring a charge and request the judicial

112TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
organ to investigate the criminal
responsibility of the suspect. If the victim
has any objection to the judicial bodybringing an action in a case, the victim may
use their legal capacity to sue for the rightof applying for reconsideration; right tosupervise the filing of a case; and directright of bringing an action. Thistransformation can be regarded astransforming the right of publicprosecution to the right of private
prosecution.
C. Completeness of the Right
Whether a victim’s procedural right iscompletely bestowed is an important aspectin evaluating the criminal proceduremechanism. China’s current Criminal
Procedure, Law reflects the proceduralright of the victim all through the criminal
procedure, and embodies the completenessof the right. For instance, the law has clear
stipulations on the victim’s reporting of acase, accusing and private prosecution;bringing supplementary civil action;
applying for withdrawal; appointing anagent ad litem; appearing in court; lodging
an appeal and requesting a counterappeal.
China adheres to the principle of State
prosecution, and the principle of victim’s
prosecution is concurrently adopted so thatt h e v i c t i m ’s r i g h t t o p r o s e c u t e i sguaranteed. At the same time, amechanism was set up for the right ofprivate prosecution to supervise the rightof public prosecution. The stipulation on
application for withdrawal can ensure theimpartiality of the criminal procedure. The
agent ad litem system not only further
improves China’s legal system, but also
plays an important role in protecting thevictim’s legal rights.
D. Restriction of the Right
The Criminal Procedure Law has,necessarily, restrictive stipulations over thevictim’s procedural rights. In a case of
public prosecution, if the victim does notagree with a judgement made at the first
instance of the local people’s court, s/he hast h e r i g h t t o r e q u e s t t h e p e o p l e ’s
procuratorate (at the same level) to propose
a counterappeal, but has no right to lodge
an appeal to the people’s court at a higher
level.
E. Strengthening Protection of theVictim’s Procedural Rights
The victim’s independent rights toprosecute are guaranteed in the following
aspects. First, in the court hearing, thevictim may make a procedural request andproposals different from that of the publicprosecutor. The reason is; the victim’s
independent right make a litigant claim
embodies their status as a party in thecriminal procedure. Now that the victim
is recognized as a party in the procedureand enjoys the independent right toprosecute, therefore s/he shall be permitted
to independently make litigant claims
favourable or unfavourable to thedefendant if s/he believes the publicprosecutior makes improper accusations
against the crime. This is an important
aspect for the victim to completely exercise
their power to prosecute. In this way, thevictim can join the public prosecution to
expose and accuse the crimes more
effectively.
Second, an independent seat is arranged
for the victims. This not only reflects thevictim’s procedural position, but also
guarantees the victim full exercise of theirprocedural rights. The victim is seated to
the right of the public prosecutor, facing
the bar. They are seated on the side of the
public prosecutor, not the defendent, toindicate the confrontation between thevictim and the accused. Finally, in theprivate prosecution cases of our country,
the victim is responsible for giving
evidence. The burden of proof for private
prosecution lies with the private
prosecutor. This is of positive significance213

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 56
to increasing the confrontation between
accuser and defender, and ensuring thatthe adjudication body is in the middle.
F. Right to Obtain Legal Remedy
In China, the victim can entrust thelawyer to offer legal remedy. The agent of
the victim can fully enjoy the right to act
as an agent ad litem. This is one of theimportant ways for the victim to obtainlegal remedy. In reference to the Criminal
Law concerning the rights and duties of the
defence lawyer of the accused, the agent of
the victim can consult, extract andduplicate the materials concerned at thepeople’s procuratorate. Upon approval of
the witness or other units or individuals,s/he can also collect the materials relating
to the case from them. They can also apply
to the people’s procuratorate and people’s
court for collecting and obtaining evidence,or requesting the people’s court to notify awitness to appear before court.
In China, the attorney-in-fact of thevictims, especially the attorney at law,attach great importance to the work of anagent ad litem for the victim in cases ofprivate prosecution. Their work helps toensure the realization of the protection of
the victim’s rights granted by the Criminal
Procedure Law and plays an important rolein enhancing the activities of the criminal
proceedings.
G. Right of the Victim to Take Partin the Court Hearing
China’s Criminal Procedure Law allows
the victim to exercise their procedural rightduring the court hearing. According to thelaw, the people’s court shall, within at least
three days before a court is opened, servea summons to the victim and a notice ofappearance is also served to the attorneyin-fact of the victim. As for the right of thevictim to apply for withdrawal, application
can be made to the Chief Judge for thewithdrawal of members of the collegiate

214

bench, the clerks, public prosecutor,
appraisers and interpreters. As for thevictims’ right of locus standi, statement canbe made on the crime accused by theindictment. As for the victims’ right to ask,
the victim may, upon approval of the Chief
Judge, address questions to the accused,
the witness and appraisers. As for right ofthe victim to air their views over evidence,s/he may put forward their views on; thetestimony of the witness who fails to
appear before the court; conclusion of theappraisal; record of investigation and otherevidentiary documents; apply for obtaining
new evidence through appearance at the
court by a new witness or apply forreappraisal or investigation. In a private
prosecution cases, the victim also enjoys
the right to reconcile with the accused on
their own or to withdraw the private
prosecution.
VI. CONCLUSION
To sum up, this paper, in four parts crime prevention, criminal proceedings,
rehabilitation of the offenders andguaranteeing the rights of the victim - deals
with crime prevention, corrections andprotection of the offenders, public
participation and the joint effort of thewhole society in China. The aim is toinform you of the framework and current
situation of crime prevention in China, andto study and discuss issues of common
interest with friends from various
countries, to improve public security.