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 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.

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.

This book documents a systematic investigation into various aspects of policing in the People's Republic of China, including its scholarship, idea, origin, history, education, culture, reform, and theory. It approaches the study of Chinese policing from an indigenous perspective, informed by local empirical data. In proposing an innovative theory of community policing entitled «Police Power as a Social Resource Theory», the book seeks to look at crime as a personal problem, and police as a social resource, from the perspective of the people and not the state.

This volume analyses under-researched institutions and practices in China's criminal justice system, arguing that derogations from the rule of law constitute an organic component of the legal order.