This open access publication discusses exclusionary rules in different criminal justice systems. It is based on the findings of a research project in comparative law with a focus on the question of whether or not a fair trial can be secured through evidence exclusion. Part I explains the legal framework in which exclusionary rules function in six legal systems: Germany, Switzerland, People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Singapore, and the United States. Part II is dedicated to selected issues identified as crucial for the assessment of exclusionary rules. These chapters highlight the delicate balance of interests required in the exclusion of potentially relevant information from a criminal trial and discusses possible approaches to alleviate the legal hurdles involved.

The book reviews the origin and development of the exclusionary rule in China, and systematically explains the problems and challenges faced by criminal justice reformers. The earlier version of the exclusionary rule in China pays more attention to confessions obtained by torture and other illegal methods, reflecting that the orientation of the rule aims mainly to prevent wrongful convictions. Since the important clause that human rights are respected and protected by the country was written in the Constitution in 2004, modern notions such as human rights protection and procedural justice have been widely accepted in China. The book compares various theories of the exclusionary rule in many countries and proposes that the rationale of human rights protection and procedural justice should be embraced by the exclusionary rule. At the same time, the book elaborately demonstrates the thoughts and designs of the vital judicial reform strategy--strict enforcement of the exclusionary rule, including clarifying the content of illegal evidence and improving the procedure of excluding illegal evidence. In addition, the book discusses the influence of the exclusionary rule on the pretrial procedure and trial procedure respectively and puts forward pertinent suggestions for the trial-centered procedural reform in the future. In the appendix, the book conducts case analysis of 20 selected cases concerning the application of the exclusionary rule. This is the first book to give a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the exclusionary rule of illegally obtained evidence in China. The author of the book, senior judge of the Supreme People’s Court in China, with his special experience of direct participation in the design of the exclusionary rule, will provide the readers with thought-provoking explanation of the distinctive feature of judicial reform strategy and criminal justice policy in China.

This review examines the literature on procedural justice and the fair trial over the past two decades in the People’s Republic of China. Part 1 gives a wide-angle view of the key political events and developments that have shaped the experience of procedural justice and the fair trial in contemporary China. It provides a storyline that explains the political environment in which these concepts have developed over time. Part 2 examines how scholars understand the legal structures of the criminal process in relation to China’s political culture. Part 3 presents scholarly views on three enduring problems relating to the fair trial: a presumption of innocence, interrogational torture, and the role of lawyers in the criminal trial process. Procedural justice is a particularly pertinent issue today in China, because Xi Jinping’s yifa zhiguo 依法治国 (governing the nation in accordance with the law) governance platform seeks to embed a greater appreciation for procedural justice in criminal justice decision-making, to correct a politico-legal tradition overwhelmingly focused on substantive justice. Overall, the literature reviewed in this article points to the serious limitations in overcoming the politico-legal barriers to justice reforms that remain intact in the system, despite nearly four decades of constant reform.

This groundbreaking monograph asserts the need for the establishment of an exclusionary rule of evidence in China as a means of protecting the people from police wrongdoing. The author skilfully explores the foundations and developments of the exclusionary rule in the UK and USA, assessing the rule from a comparative perspective and illuminating some issues that may arise in transferring the rule from one legal system to another. Divided into two parts, the first part discusses lessons from the past, and provides an in-depth examination of the development of the exclusionary rule in the UK and USA, covering rationales, debates and the theoretical foundation of the exclusionary rule in the constitutional context. The second part looks to the future and the establishment of a Chinese exclusionary rule. Specifically, it analyses the effects of police torture, the passive attitude of judges and the need to establish such a rule in practice for future protection of human rights. The author’s experience in criminal law and procedure allow him to adroitly analyse crucial issues on both theoretical and practical level that is understandable to those working in the areas of human rights, comparative criminal procedure, and the Chinese legal system.

China's party-run courts have one of the highest conviction rates in the world, with forced confessions remaining a central feature. Despite recent prohibitions on evidence obtained through coercion or torture, forced confessions continue to undermine the Chinese judicial system. Recounting some harrowing cases of wrongful conviction, acclaimed legal scholar and novelist He Jiahong analyzes many problems in China's justice system. In one such case, Teng Xingshan was convicted in 1988 and later executed for murdering his mistress, but almost six years later it was discovered that the supposed victim, Shi Xiaorong, was still alive. In 2005, Teng's children submitted a complaint to the Hunan High People's Court, which then issued a revised judgment. In another case, She Xianglin was convicted of murdering his wife in 1994 and was sentenced to death, but this sentence was later commuted to fifteen years' imprisonment. In 2005, She's wife, presumed dead for over eleven years, "returned to life"; She was released from prison two weeks later, retried and found not guilty. With riveting examples, the author surveys the organization and procedure of criminal investigation, the lawyering system for criminal defense, the public prosecution system, trial proceedings, as well as criminal punishments and appeals. In doing so, He highlights the frequent causes of wrongful convictions: investigators working from forced confessions to evidence; improperly tight deadlines for solving criminal cases; prejudicial collection of evidence; misinterpretation of scientific evidence; continued use of torture to extract confessions; bowing to public opinion; nominal checks among the police, prosecutors and the courts; the dysfunction of courtroom trials; unlawfully extended custody with tunnel vision; and reduced sentencing in cases of doubt. The author also provides updated information about recent changes and reforms as well as the many continuing challenges of the criminal justice system in China.

Justice Without Borders is the theme of this collection of essays that honours Judge Wolfgang Schomburg on the occassion of his 70th birthday on 9 April 2018. The contributions of distinguished authors in the area of international criminal law, European criminal law and international cooperation focus on topics that are important for Wolfgang Schomburg: the pursuit of international criminal justice with respect for the interests of the accused, the facilitation of international cooperation subject to the rule of law, and the principle of fair trial .

The lawyer-dominated adversary system of criminal trial, which now typifies practice in Anglo-American legal systems, was developed in England in the 18th century. This text shows how and why lawyers were able to capture the trial.