Has the Plea Leniency Procedure Reshaped China's Criminal Justice System? – An Empirical Enquiry

Description

The plea-leniency procedure in China is similar to the guilty plea system in common lawcountries and plea-bargaining system in the US. The plea-leniency procedure in China allowsthe defendant to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. Pleading leniency meansadmitting guilt, taking on responsibility for the crime and accepting punishment. Thisprocedure is controversial as it is subject to manipulation and abuse by the police, procuratorsand even courts, thereby infringing defendants’ rights. This project investigates whether theplea-leniency system has reshaped China’s criminal justice system, and if so, how. The projectasks four fundamental research questions: First, has the plea leniency system fundamentallyaltered the balance of power of China’s criminal justice system? In other words, has criminalprocedure moved from cooperative pipeline case processing to a procuratorate-centric systemafter the introduction of the plea-leniency system? Second, how do prosecutors make plealeniency decisions? What factors do prosecutors take into account in coming up with thesentencing recommendations pursuant to plea leniency decisions? Third, how are courtsresponding to the recent surge in power of the procuratorates? Fourth, how does a leniencyplea affect the defendant? Does a leniency plea necessarily lead to a lighter sentence for thedefendant? What are the criminal justice system’s procedural safeguards for defendantspleading leniency? Are they working in practice? What are the strategies of criminal defencelawyers in China to protect the rights of defendants who plead leniency? Through statistical analysis of plea-leniency related cases, the project will reveal to what extentthe courts confirm the sentencing recommendations of the procurators and what factorscontribute to the outcome of the case. Through interviews, the project will examine theprotection of rights of defendants under the plea leniency system, in particular the proceduralsafeguards that are available to defendants, whether defendants’ rights have been infringed inpractice and whether defendants resist plea leniency. The project will seek to reveal theattitudes of procurators and courts towards the plea-leniency procedure and how the procedureoperates in practice, in particular, how procurators negotiate with the defendants and criminallawyers, and how they communicate with the local courts. It will also examine how courtsreview the procuratorates’ sentencing recommendations. The project will recommend changes (to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and SupremePeople’s Court) to the current plea leniency procedure by introducing further proceduralsafeguards to defendants.