The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Our Country's Criminal Procedure

Author: Chen Guangzhong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-12-01
Features: On October 5, 1998, the Chinese government signed and acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Chinese government is now awaiting approval from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. How the series of international criminal justice standards established by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights can be coordinated with China's domestic legislation and judicial practices, and how to refer to these standards to promote the reform and improvement of China's criminal justice system, has become a hot and difficult issue of concern to the Chinese government and the general public. On January 27, 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a speech in the French National Assembly Hall, stating, "The Chinese government is actively studying the major issues related to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Once conditions are ripe, it will submit a proposal to the National People's Congress to ratify the covenant."① In May 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao, during his visit to Europe, and in September 2005, when Vice-Chairman of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Luo Gan attended the Xth World Legal Conference in Beijing, made similar solemn statements. On October 19, 2005, the Chinese government published the "White Paper on China's Democratic Political Construction," Part VII "Respect and Protection of Human Rights," which explicitly stated regarding the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, "Currently, relevant Chinese authorities are intensifying research and preparation. Once conditions are ripe, the State Council will submit the issue of ratification to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation."③ The ratification and implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in China is only a matter of time, and its ratification and implementation will inevitably have a significant impact on China's criminal justice system. We should combine China's national conditions to study the gap between the standards established by the covenant and China's criminal justice system, explore the impact of the covenant on China's criminal procedure and its countermeasures, further improve China's criminal legislation, and ensure that both criminal law and judicial practice can be coordinated with international criminal justice standards to prepare for early ratification and implementation, thereby promoting the further rule of law, democratization, and scientific advancement of China's criminal justice system.
Research on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and China's criminal justice reform has been a focus for scholars such as Professor Chen Guangzhong of China University of Political Science and Law since the mid-1990s. In 1998, they published "United Nations Criminal Justice Standards and China's Criminal Legal System" (edited by Chen Guangzhong and Daniel Pritzer), in 2002 "Research on the Ratification and Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" (edited by Chen Guangzhong), in 2003 "Human Rights Law—Research on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" (written by Yang Yuguan), and in 2005 "United Nations Human Rights Conventions and Classic Principles" (edited by Yang Yuguan), as well as a series of related achievements, which have attracted great attention from both academia and practice. However, research on the alignment between the covenant and China's criminal justice practice still needs to be deepened. In light of this, under the organization and leadership of Professor Chen Guangzhong, after careful research and argumentation, we submitted the major project "The Impact and Countermeasures of Joining the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on China's Criminal Procedure" to the Ministry of Education, which was approved on December 26, 2002 (Project Approval No.: 02JAZJD820012) and established as a key research project of the China University of Political Science and Law's Center for the Study of Litigation Law, a key research base for humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education.
After the project was approved, the research team immediately began collecting data, discussing the research plan, formulating research topics, and assigning tasks based on the professional expertise of team members. Subsequently, we selected several representative regions in China for research. In March and September 2003, we conducted research in courts in Hainan and Xi'an, focusing on the issue of fair trial under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by studying actual cases. From late 2003 to early 2004 in Beijing and October 2004 in the Pearl River Delta region, we selected courts, procuratorates, and public security organs to investigate relevant issues under the covenant's criminal justice-related provisions in judicial practice. On January 26 and 27, 2004, the academic symposium "The Impact of the Ratification of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on China's Criminal Legislation and Justice" was held in Beijing. Participants discussed in-depth the ratification time of the covenant, the reservation of substantive provisions, the impact of the covenant's ratification on China's criminal legislation and justice, as well as specific issues such as the principle of fair trial, the protection of the defense rights of suspects and defendants, and the retrial system.