Adopted at the Second Session of the Fifth National People's
Congress on July 1, 1979, and amended according to the Decision on
the Revision of the Organic Law of the People's Procuratorates of
the People's Republic of China adopted at the Second Meeting of the
Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on
September 2, 1983
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1? The people's procuratorates of the People's
Republic of China are state organs for legal supervision.
Article 2? The People's Republic of China shall establish
the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the people's procuratorates at
various local levels, military procuratorates and other special
people's procuratorates. (Amended on Sept. 2, 1983)
The people's procuratorates at various local levels shall be
divided into:
(1) people's procuratorates of provinces, autonomous regions,
and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
(2) branches of the people's procuratorates of provinces,
autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central
Government, and people's procuratorates of autonomous prefectures
and cities directly under the provincial governments; and
(3) people's procuratorates of counties, cities, autonomous
counties and municipal districts.
People's procuratorates at the provincial or county level may,
according to work requirements and upon the approval of the
standing committee of the people's congress at the corresponding
level, set up people's procuratorates as their agencies in
industrial and mining areas, agricultural reclamation areas, forest
zones, etc. (A paragraph is deleted here on Sept. 2, 1983)
The establishment, organization and functions and powers of
special people's procuratorates shall be stipulated separately by
the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
Article 3? People's procuratorates at all levels shall each
have a chief procurator, a number of deputy chief procurators* and
procurators. The chief procurator exercises unified leadership over
the work of the procuratorates.
The leading officials of the Supreme People's Procuratorate are
the Procurator-General and Deputy Procurators-General.
People's procuratorates at all levels shall each set up a
procuratorial committee. The procuratorial committee shall apply
the system of democratic centralism and, under the direction of the
chief procurator, hold discussions and make decisions on important
cases and other major issues. In the case of the chief procurator
disagreeing with the majority's opinion over a decision on an
important issue, the matter may be reported to the standing
committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level for
final decision.
Article 4? The people's procuratorates shall, through
exercising their procuratorial authority, suppress all treasonous
activities, all activities to dismember the state and other
counterrevolutionary activities, and strike at
counterrevolutionaries and other criminals, so as to safeguard the
unification of the country, the system of proletarian dictatorship
and the socialist legal system; to maintain public order and order
in production, education, scientific research and other work, and
in the life of the people; to protect the socialist property owned
by the whole people and by the collectives of the working masses,
and the private property lawfully owned by citizens; to protect the
citizens' rights of the person and their democratic and other
rights; and to ensure the smooth progress of the socialist
modernization.
The people's procuratorates, through procuratorial activities,
educate the citizens to be loyal to their socialist motherland, to
consciously observe the Constitution and the laws and to actively
fight against illegal activities.
Article 5? People's procuratorates at all levels shall
exercise the following functions and powers:
(1) to exercise procuratorial authority over cases of treason,
cases involving acts to dismember the state and other major
criminal cases severely impeding the unified enforcement of state
policies, laws, decrees and administrative orders;
(2) to conduct investigations on criminal cases directly handled
by themselves;
(3) to review cases investigated by public security organs and
determine whether to approve arrest, to prosecute or to exempt from
prosecution; and to exercise supervision over the investigatory
activities of public security organs, to determine whether they
conform to the law;
(4) to initiate public prosecutions on criminal cases and
support such prosecutions; and to exercise supervision over the
judicial activities of people's courts, to determine whether they
conform to the law; and
(5) to exercise supervision over the execution of judgments and
orders in criminal cases and over the activities of prisons,
detention houses and organs in charge of reform through labour, to
determine whether such execution and activities conform to the
law.
Article 6? People's procuratorates shall, in accordance
with the law, protect the citizens right to lodge complaints
against state functionaries who break the law and shall investigate
the legal responsibility of those persons who infringe upon other
citizens' right of the person, and their democratic and other
rights.
Article 7? People's procuratorates must, in executing their
work, persistently seek truth from facts, follow the mass line,
heed the opinions of the masses and subject themselves to the
supervision by the masses; make investigation and study, laying
stress on evidence rather than readily giving credence to oral
statements, and strictly forbidding the obtainment of confessions
by compulsion; and correctly differentiate and handle
contradictions between the enemy and the people, and those among
the people themselves.
The functionaries of the people's procuratorates at all levels
must pay high regard to actual facts and the law, be faithful to
the socialist cause and serve the people wholeheartedly.
Article 8? In the exercise of procuratorial authority by
people's procuratorates at all levels, the law shall be applied
equally to all citizens, and no privileges shall be allowed.
Article 9? The people's procuratorates shall exercise
procuratorial authority independently, in accordance with the
provisions of the law, and shall not be subject to interference by
any administrative organ, public organization or individual.
Article 10? The Supreme People's Procuratorate shall be
responsible and report on its work to the National People's
Congress and its Standing Committee. The people's procuratorates at
various local levels shall be responsible and report on their work
to the people's congresses and their standing committees at
corresponding levels.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate shall direct the work of the
people's procuratorates at various local levels and of the special
people's procuratorates; the people's procuratorates at higher
levels shall direct the work of those at lower levels.
Chapter II Procedures for People's Procuratorates in
Exercising Their Functions and Powers
Article 11? If a people's procuratorate finds and confirms
that a criminal act has been committed, it shall place the case on
file for investigation in accordance with the procedure provided by
law, or transfer it to a public security organ for investigation.
If, upon conclusion of the investigation, the people's
procuratorate deems it necessary to investigate criminal
responsibility, it shall initiate a public prosecution in the
people's court, or it shall rescind the case, if it deems it
unnecessary to investigate criminal responsibility.
Article 12? The arrest of any citizen, unless decided on by
a people's court, must be subject to the approval of a people's
procuratorate.
Article 13? A people's procuratorate shall review the cases
for which a public security organ requests prosecution and decide
whether to initiate public prosecution, to exempt from prosecution
or not to initiate prosecution. It may remand a case to the public
security organ for supplementary investigation, if the main facts
of the crime are not clear or the evidence is insufficient.
If a people's procuratorate discovers violations of the law in
the investigatory activities of a public security organ, it shall
instruct that public security organ to rectify them.
Article 14? If a public security organ considers that there
is an error in a decision of a people's procuratorate to disapprove
arrest, not to initiate prosecution or to grant exemption from
prosecution on the cases transferred by it to the people's
procuratorate, it may request reconsideration by the people's
procuratorate, and may also request review by the people's
procuratorate at the next higher level. The higher-level people's
procuratorate shall make a timely decision and instruct the
lower-level people's procuratorate and the public security organ to
execute it.
Article 15? In legal proceedings instituted by a people's
procuratorate, the chief procurator or a procurator shall attend
the court session, in the capacity of state prosecutor, to support
the prosecution and exercise supervision over the court
proceedings, and to determine whether they conform to the law.
Article 16? If a people's court considers that the main
facts of a crime are not clear or the evidence is insufficient or
there are violations of the law in a case in which the people's
procuratorate has initiated prosecution, it may remand the case to
the people's procuratorate for supplementary investigation or
notify it to make corrections.
Article 17? If a local people's procuratorate discovers any
error in a judgment or order of a people's court at the
corresponding level in a case of first instance, it shall lodge a
protest in accordance with the procedure of appeal.
Article 18? If the Supreme People's Procuratorate discovers
some definite error in a legally effective judgment or order of a
people's court at any level, or if a people's procuratorate at a
higher level discovers some definite error in a legally effective
judgment or order of a people's court at a lower level, it shall
lodge a protest in accordance with procedures of judicial
supervision.
People's procuratorates must send personnel to appear in court
when cases are heard, in accordance with procedures of judicial
supervision.
Article 19? If the people's procuratorates discover
violations of the law in the execution of judgments or orders in
criminal cases, they shall notify the executing organs to correct
them.
If the people's procuratorates discover violations of the law in
the activities of prisons, detention houses or organs in charge of
reform through labour, they shall notify the organs responsible to
correct them.
Chapter III The Organizational Structure and the
Appointment and Removal of Personnel of People's
Procuratorats
Article 20. The Supreme People's Procuratorate shall establish a
number of procuratorial departments and other professional agencies
as needed. The people's procuratorates at various local levels may
respectively establish corresponding procuratorial divisions,
sections and other professional agencies. (Amended on Sept. 2,
1983)
Article 21 The Procurator-General of the Supreme People's
Procuratorate shall be elected and removed by the National People's
Congress.
The Deputy Procurators-General, members of the procuratorial
committee and procurators of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
shall be appointed and removed by the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress upon the recommendation of the
Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
Article 22? The chief procurators of the people's
procuratorates of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities
directly under the Central Government and their branches shall be
elected and removed by the people's congresses of provinces,
autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central
Government; the deputy chief procurators, members of procuratorial
committees and procurators shall be appointed and removed by the
standing committees of the people's congresses at corresponding
levels upon the recommendation of the chief procurators of the
provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under
the Central Government.
The appointment and removal of the chief procurators of the
people's procuratorates of provinces, autonomous regions, and
municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be
reported to the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's
Procuratorate for submission to the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress for approval. (Amended on Sept. 2,
1983)
Article 23? The chief procurators of people's
procuratorates of autonomous prefectures, cities directly under the
provincial governments, counties, cities and municipal districts
shall be elected and removed by the people's congresses at
corresponding levels; the deputy chief procurators, members of
procuratorial committees and procurators shall be appointed and
removed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at
corresponding levels upon the recommendation of the chief
procurators.
The appointment and removal of the chief procurators of the
people's procuratorates of autonomous prefectures, cities directly
under the provincial governments, counties, cities and municipal
districts shall be reported to the chief procurators of the
people's procuratorates at the next higher level for submission to
the standing committee of the people's congress at the
corresponding level for approval. (Amended on Sept. 2, 1983)
Article 24? The chief procurators, deputy chief
procurators, members of procuratorial committees and procurators of
people's procuratorates set up in industrial and mining areas,
agricultural reclamation areas and forest zones by people's
procuratorates at the provincial or county level shall be appointed
and removed by the standing committee of the people's congress at
the corresponding level upon the recommendation of the chief
procurators of the dispatching people's procuratorates.
Article 25? The term of office of the chief procurators of
people's procuratorates at all levels shall be the same as that of
the people's congresses at corresponding levels.
Article 26? The Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress and the standing committees of the people's congresses of
provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under
the Central Government may, upon proposals put forward by the
Procurator-General and chief procurators of people's procuratorates
at the corresponding level, replace the chief procurators, deputy
chief procurators and members of the procuratorial committees of
people's procuratorates at lower levels.
Article 27? People's procuratorates at all levels shall
have a number of assistant procurators and clerks. With the
approval of the chief procurator, an assistant procurator may act
in the function of a procurator. The clerks shall be responsible
for keeping case records and other related matters.
The assistant procurators and clerks shall be appointed and
removed by the chief procurators of people's procuratorates at all
levels.
People's procuratorates at all levels may install judicial
police as needed.
Article 28? The organizational structure and staff size of
the people's procuratorates at all levels shall be stipulated
separately by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
Source: NPC