Trials that could lead to a death sentence will be subjected to
further openness and transparency in a bid to ensure that the legal
system is just.
"First-instance hearings of capital punishment cases must be
open," said a circular released by the Supreme People's Court
yesterday.
"Courts should eventually carry out public trials for appeal
hearings in criminal cases," the document said. "They should also
hold more public trials for appeals in civil and administrative
cases."
For a variety of reasons, some appeal hearings are not open to
the public.
For instance, when it is clear that a verdict was reached via an
incorrect application of the law, or that the evidence submitted in
the first trial was insufficient, then it is usually considered
unnecessary to hold a second public trial.
Though the Criminal Procedural Law, Civil Procedural Law and
Administrative Procedural Law have laid out the types of cases that
can be tried in public, yesterday's circular was the first
specialized document on the subject.
It emphasized the need for timely, open trials in "full
scale".
A "full-scale" public trial includes an open hearing, open
proof-lodging, open cross-examinations and "public announcement of
the judgment".
It also requires the public release of any information
contributing to the protection of litigants' rights according to
trial requirements.
The country's highest court also called for more in-court
announcements of judgments, with fewer mandatory sentences and
pronouncements on fixed dates.
Legal experts hailed the new regulations, saying they
represented an important step toward ensuring justice, curbing
corruption and protecting litigants' rights.
"It will ensure fairness and efficiency and also improve judges'
capacities because the public will have more chances to hear about
and comment on judgments," Yuan Shuhong, vice-president of the
China National School of Administration and an expert in
administrative law.
In the new regulations, the Supreme People's Court says citizens
can always observe trials as long as they bring proof of identity.
Courts should "make necessary explanations if the number of
observers is limited in some cases".
Courts are also required to establish an information system to
give litigants access to information concerning their cases, and
higher courts should publish more judgments in publications, local
area networks and the Internet.
Courts are also encouraged to record important hearings and
establish audio-visual archives, and litigants can apply to review
and copy some materials.
Some courts, such as the Xuzhou Intermediate People's Court in
Jiangsu Province, have been opening their proceedings to the
public.
Since 2003, all appeals in civil trials, except those solved by
out-of-court mediation, said Yue Cailing, a senior official with
the Xuzhou Intermediate People's Court.
According to data from 2003 to this May, 67.6 percent of the
court's civil trial verdicts were handed down in court.
(China Daily June 15, 2007)