Adapt to the development of the times and promote the modernization of China's criminal justice

Recently, the "Seminar on the Modernization of Chinese Criminal Justice and the Press Conference of Professor Bian Jianlin's Legal Papers" co-sponsored by the Institute of Procedural Law of China University of Political Science and Law and the China Procuratorial Publishing House was held in Beijing. More than 140 participants from some universities, research institutes and practical departments across the country had in-depth exchanges on issues related to the modernization of Chinese-style criminal justice.

　　Grasp the characteristics and essential requirements of Chinese-style modernization

　　The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China comprehensively expounded the Chinese characteristics and essential requirements of Chinese-style modernization, systematically planned the strategic deployment and major measures to adhere to the comprehensive rule of law and promote the construction of the rule of law in China, and emphasized that "it is necessary to give better play to the role of the rule of law in consolidating the foundation, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long-term, and comprehensively building a modern socialist country on the track of the rule of law".

　　The participants unanimously agreed that to realize the modernization of Chinese-style criminal justice, it is necessary to follow Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law as the fundamental principle, and accelerate the modernization of the criminal justice system and mechanism by deepening the comprehensive reform of the judicial system. Accelerate the modernization of the criminal justice system with the support of scientific legislation; With the construction of a team of high-quality personnel as a guarantee, accelerate the modernization of criminal justice capacity. Criminal justice modernization is the transition from tradition to modernity. The subjectivity and procedural nature of modern society determine that modern criminal justice should have two basic qualities: respect for individual rights and emphasis on procedural justice. Therefore, the study of the basic principles of criminal procedure is still very realistic.

　　How to understand and grasp the essence and characteristics of criminal justice modernization, explore and summarize the contemporary issues in the development of criminal justice, and plan and improve the goals and tasks of criminal justice development are common topics faced by the theoretical and practical circles. The first volume of Professor Bian Jianlin's legal essays, Honorary Dean of the Institute of Procedural Law of China University of Political Science and Law, released at the conference - "Governing the Country According to Law and Criminal Procedure-Bian Jianlin's Legal Essays (Upper, Middle and Lower)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Anthology"), focuses on the principles of criminal procedure and the litigation system, and fully demonstrates that advocating the rule of law in criminal procedure and promoting the value of procedural justice is an inevitable choice for the modernization of the rule of law in the mainland through the interpretation of the principles and systems of independent exercise of power by the mainland judicial organs, presumption of innocence, and criminal recusal. Chen Xingliang, Boya Chair Professor of Peking University, said that it can be seen from the "Collected Works" that Professor Bian Jianlin's theoretical research involves various fields of criminal procedure, especially around the theme of governing the country according to law and criminal procedure, and has conducted all-round in-depth research. Among them, the article "Procedural Elements of the Legality of Crimes" examines the principle of legality of crimes from two aspects: substantive law and procedural law, and the perspective is very innovative. The principle of legality of crimes and the principle of presumption of innocence are the basic principles of the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law respectively, and they have the function of protecting human rights, have the same value, and also have the same logical structure.

　　Proceed from China's national conditions and realities to study and solve criminal justice problems

　　Chinese-style modernization is socialist modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which has the common characteristics of the modernization of all countries and Chinese characteristics based on the national conditions of their own countries. On the basis of the long-term exploration and practice since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, and through the innovative breakthroughs in theory and practice since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chinese-style modernization is constantly shaping a new paradigm and pattern. Chinese-style criminal justice modernization is an indispensable part of Chinese-style modernization.

　　According to Song Yinghui, a professor at the Institute of Criminal Legal Sciences of Beijing Normal University, Chinese-style criminal justice modernization includes two major elements: one is "Chinese-style", which is based on China's national conditions, including the party's absolute leadership over political and legal work, people-centered development thinking, China is a big country, and the current situation of unbalanced and insufficient development, etc., which is manifested in the concept of political and legal work, the construction of institutional mechanisms, and the cultivation of talents; The second is "modernization", which covers many aspects. The study of Chinese-style criminal justice modernization should not be closed, but should be closely integrated with the mainland's political system, state system, and party policies. Yang Yuguan, a professor at the Institute of Procedural Law of China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out that Chinese-style criminal justice originates from the ancient tradition of the Chinese legal system, which is quite different from the common law system and the civil law system. To study the modernization of Chinese-style criminal justice, we must first recognize the specific characteristics of the Chinese-style criminal justice system, and there are many references to ancient criminal justice, such as the idea of non-litigation and the idea of prudent punishment. Second, the modernization of Chinese-style criminal justice should keep up with the times and clarify relevant urgent issues, such as the relationship between criminal justice and big data, artificial intelligence, and corporate compliance. Gu Yongzhong, a professor at the Institute of Procedural Law of China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out that the most fundamental aspect of Chinese-style modernization is the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and there has never been a law that is divorced from politics. It is necessary to proceed from China's national conditions and judicial reality to study and solve China's criminal justice problems; It is necessary to properly handle the relationship between Chinese-style modernization and excellent traditional legal culture, between the objective laws of justice and the principles of litigation, and between excellent legal achievements. He Bingqun, vice chairman of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and executive vice president of the Provincial Law Society, believes that the modernization of Chinese-style criminal justice must adhere to the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, adapt to the needs of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and absorb the excellent traditional culture of China's criminal justice.

　　To realize the modernization of Chinese-style criminal justice, it is necessary to focus on the modernization of judicial concepts, judicial systems, judicial procedures, and judicial capabilities. In recent years, the mainland's criminal justice system has carried out corresponding reforms and arrangements in terms of procedural design, judicial system, and rights protection. Among them, the reform of the national supervision system and the establishment of the system of leniency for those who admit guilt and accept punishment are all important manifestations of the modernization of criminal justice. In this regard, experts and scholars such as Ye Qing, president of East China University of Political Science and Law, Li Yuhua, dean of the Law School of Chinese People's Public Security University, and Wu Hongyao, dean of the National Legal Aid Research Institute of China University of Political Science and Law, respectively expressed their insights on the relationship between prosecution and trial, the modernization of the evidence system, and the legal aid system. The participants unanimously agreed that the proposition of the times of Chinese-style criminal justice modernization will inevitably require a more fair judiciary, more perfect litigation procedures, more adequate protection of procedural rights, more efficient justice, and more concrete feelings of the people about fairness and justice.

　　Promote the modernization of criminal justice in China through the modernization of criminal procedure theory

　　The "Collected Papers" released by the conference included 128 academic articles written by Professor Bian Jianlin, which attracted great attention. Many participants believed that the articles collected in the Anthology have had an important influence in the fields of criminal procedure law, evidence law and judicial system research over time, which not only reflects the development trend of China's criminal procedure law in the past 40 years, but also epitome the development of China's criminal procedure law research and judicial practice.

　　Ma Huaide, president of China University of Political Science and Law, said that a series of important papers, textbooks and monographs published by Professor Bian Jianlin have had a great impact on the academic community and are important materials for the study of criminal procedure law and evidence law. Zhu Jianhua, president of the China Procuratorial Publishing House, said that the "Collected Works" is a set of excellent works that are based on China's reality, solve China's problems, and expound China's theories, and its publication will certainly further prosper the study of criminal procedure law.

　　Professor Bian Jianlin said that the field of criminal procedure law is the most vivid embodiment of the rule of law and human rights protection level of a country, and the use of state public instruments is a big matter and needs the guidance of due process. With the theme of China's criminal justice modernization, the conference reflects the vision for the future development of the mainland's litigation system, and academic research should be based on China's national conditions, respect objective laws, solve China's problems, and adapt to China's needs.

　　(The author, Zhang Lu, is a lecturer at the Institute of Procedural Law, China University of Political Science and Law)

Source: Procuratorate Daily