Chinese prosecutors to receive training in procedural safeguards

The prestigious law school at Hunan University in China has entered into a partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights running as of now until the end of 2016.

The cooperation is aimed at training 600 prosecutors in the revised Criminal Procedure Law from 2013.

“The revised law entails a whole new way of working for the prosecutors. The law grants defence lawyers better access to both their clients and the prosecutions evidence. This cooperation aims to promote procedures that live up to the letter of the law,” Bjarne Andreasen, head of the institute’s China programme, explains.

Lack of clear and uniform procedures

In a country as vast as China, major challenges regarding implementation arise when important legislation as the Criminal Procedure Law is revised. There is a risk that laws will be enforced differently in different parts of the country.

For example, evidence obtained by illegal means are to be rejected by the courts in accordance with the new law. Previously, if the evidence was important, it would be accepted regardless of how it was obtained.

“The main purpose with this prohibition of illegally obtained evidence is to prevent torture. Today, if a prosecutor has a confession in front of him, he has certain responsibilities under the new law. This necessitates new procedures for the prosecution service,” Bjarne Andreasen says.

600 prosecutors will be trained

At the moment, Hunan University and the Danish Institute for Human Rights are working to develop the course materials that are to be used in the actual training of the prosecutors.

The training will consist of 3 day courses starting late 2015. All together, 600 prosecutors will go through the course.