University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/72814 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. Written Evidence and the Absence of Witnesses: The Inevitability of Conviction in Chinese Criminal Justice By Yu Mou A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Warwick, School of Law February 2015 This thesis is dedicated to John Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................. v Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1. The Chinese Collectivism Tradition ............................................................................. 3 2. The Legal Institutions in the Chinese Political Context ................................................ 9 2.1 The Police, the Procuratorate and the Courts: The Iron Triangle ......................... 10 2.2 Police Power ......................................................................................................... 14 2.3 The Supervisory Role of the Procuratorate ........................................................... 19 2.4 The Lack of Judicial Independence ...................................................................... 25 3. The Development of Criminal Procedure Law and Legal Reforms ............................ 30 3.1 The Criminal Procedure Law 1979 ....................................................................... 31 3.2 The Legal Reform of 1996 .................................................................................... 32 3.3 The Criminal Procedure Law 2012 ....................................................................... 37 Chapter 2 Research Background and Methodology............................................................ 43 1. A Review on Previous Research ................................................................................. 43 2. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 52 2.1 Methodological Choice ......................................................................................... 53 2.2 Participant Observation ......................................................................................... 59 2.3 Semi-structured Interviews ................................................................................... 74 Chapter 3 Constructing the Police Case .............................................................................. 84 1. The Role of the Police and the Appraisal System ....................................................... 84 2. The Construction of the Police Case: the Interrogation .............................................. 91 2.1 The Official Version of Truth ............................................................................... 94 2.2 The Integrity of the Official Record: Manipulating and Falsifying the Written Statement of the Accused ............................................................................................ 98 2. 3 Lecturing, Incarceration and Inconsistent Statements........................................ 106 3. The Defence Predicament in the Investigative Stage ................................................ 114 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 126 Chapter 4 Reviewing the Police Investigation .................................................................. 128 1. The Role of the Prosecutor and the Appraisal System .............................................. 129 2. Overseeing the Police Case ....................................................................................... 135 i 2.1 Examining the Investigative Dossier .................................................................. 136 2.2 Prosecutorial Interrogation .................................................................................. 142 2.3 Interviewing the Victim ...................................................................................... 152 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 156 Chapter 5 Pre-trial Decisions Concerning Prosecution ..................................................... 158 1. The discretionary power not to prosecute ................................................................. 158 1.1 Undue Influences and the Decision not to Prosecute .......................................... 164 2. Decisions on Abbreviated Trial Mode ...................................................................... 175 3. The Predicament in Constructing the Defence Case ................................................. 186 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 197 Chapter 6 Trials without Witnesses ............................................................................... 200 1. The Inner Managerial System of the Courts ............................................................. 200 2. The Judge-prosecutor Relationship ........................................................................... 208 3. Trial without Witnesses ........................................................................................... 216 3.1 Witness is Absent: the Reluctant Court and the Corroboration Rule .................. 217 3.2 The Ordinary Trial: the Presentation of Statements ............................................ 226 3.3 The Simplified Trial ............................................................................................ 241 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 247 Chapter 7 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 249 1. Functional Deficiency: Conceptualising the Structural Injustice of Chinese Criminal Process .......................................................................................................................... 249 2. Criminal Justice Reforms .......................................................................................... 261 2.1 The Chinese Debate over the Model of the Criminal Justice System ................. 262 2.2 Criminal Justice Reform in the Political Context ............................................... 266 2.3 A Few Realistic Suggestions for the Revision of Law ....................................... 273 3. Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................. 276 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 279 Appendix A: Glossary of Chinese Legal Terms and Institutions ..................................... 302 Appendix B: Data Sources ................................................................................................ 307 ii Acknowledgements I owe a lot of thanks in the completion of this PhD thesis to those people who have supported and encouraged me throughout the research journey. The research itself would not have been possible without the co-operation and tolerance of prosecutors, judges, police officers and defence lawyers whom I approached and who generously allowed me to observe their work, or to carry out interviews with them, during 2012 and 2013 in China. My guarantees of anonymity prevent me from identifying those to whom I am deeply grateful. Given the constrained research environment in China, their openness and helpful assistance have made this research less difficult than could otherwise have been and quite often undertaken in a joyful mood. At Warwick, I have been lucky to have a wonderful and inspiring supervision in Professor Jacqueline Hodgson, an excellent and resourceful scholar, an encouraging mentor who has supported me through all stages of my PhD. She has created every possible opportunity for me to become a researcher. Her guidance to prompt me to think critically, her precious skill in working in the field, and her insightful comments on the entirety of my thesis have been the basis for much of the inspiration of this work. Words fail to convey my gratitude of the special role played by her in my academic life. I would also like to thank my other supervisor Professor Roger Leng, who gave me great advice on the field data and constructive comments on early drafts of the chapters. Heartfelt thanks go also to my previous supervisor Professor Sun Changyong for helping me negotiate access to the procuratorate and to contact many of the interviewees, providing me with tremendous support when I was in China. Laurène Soubise and Juliet Horne have been