Chinese Judicial System Case Study

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Chapter Three – History of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law

Section 1 – The Chinese Criminal Procedure Law before 1996

3-1-1 The Chinese Criminal Procedure Law before 1979

Along with its historical evolution of its economic, politic and social systems, the Chinese judicial system has been gradually developing. For hundreds of years Chinese judicial system has been proliferating by adopting legal doctrines from other countries however, today the Chinese judicial system as a whole is the result of a rich Chinese history and practical experience. Indeed, for around two millennia China had withheld its own unique legal system. During that time, the notion of “law” equated “punishment”. The Chinese traditional law, pre-1911, was conceived on the basis of an inclusive code containing many types of rules with criminal punishments.

3-1-1-1 Protection of individual’s rights

When talking about the Chinese traditional history of law …show more content…

In Chinese legal tradition there has been more emphasizing on substantive law than procedural law and more emphasize on crime control rather than due process. In ancient China, each dynasty had its own written statues and customary laws and no separate code regulated the criminal procedure because that was found in the Criminal Code. Also, judicial and administrative powers were mixed together. Indeed, the province or county chief was more than just a judge . They could also try criminal cases. They could conduct hearings, make decisions and also investigate and inquest as well as detect criminals. Although a supervision of higher governments looked after these chiefs, they had absolute power and were beyond the supervision and check of any mechanism. In nowadays terms, the chiefs’ duties were composed of that of a judge, a prosecutor, a police chief and even a

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