The 2012 Revision of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law: (Mostly) Old Wine in New Bottles

Abstract

In March 2012, after years of debate about criminal justice reform, the National People’s Congress (‘NPC’) of the People’s Republic of China (‘PRC’) passed a revision of the Criminal Procedure Law (‘CPL’). Just over six months earlier, publication of a draft CPL revision proposal sparked intense public debate over some of its controversial provisions during a one-month period of public consultation in September 2011. Now that the debate has largely receded and no longer revolves around influencing the outcome of the legislative process, this co-authored Occasional Paper offers an initial assessment of the impact of this 2012 revision, which is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2013.

The co-authors focus on a few key aspects of the CPL revision: compulsory measures (Part I), rules of evidence (Part II), criminal reconciliation (Part III); the death penalty review procedure (Part IV); and the impact of the legislation on criminal defence lawyers (Part V). Other important areas worthy of examination, such as juvenile criminal justice and rules on electronic surveillance, have been reserved for future discussion.