Empirical Research and Theoretical Debates on Plea Bargaining System in Chinese Criminal Justice

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

The panel demonstrates the Chinese plea-bargaining system from various perspectives. Such a system was introduced by the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law in 2018 as a basic principle of criminal procedure and all types of cases can be addressed through plea bargaining. As a consequence, more than 80 percent of criminal cases are solved with plea-bargaining in China. Therefore, the reform on plea-bargaining system in Chinese criminal procedure law has significant and long-term impacts on the arrangement of its criminal justice system. The five papers in this panel will give a close examination on the Chinese plea-bargaining system from both an empirical and theoretical perspectives about the role of duty lawyers to safeguard the voluntary confessions, the sentencing in individual crime, the role of prosecutors, the sustainability of the current practice, and the judicial effect of sentencing recommendations under the Chinese plea-bargaining system.

The titles of the five papers are as follows in a speech order.
1. The Guarantee of Voluntary Confessions under the Chinese Plea Bargaining System: Mechanism and Practice

2. Empirical Study on the Application of the Chinese plea-bargaining system in the Crime of Helping Information Network Crime Cases

3. Reconsideration of the Role of Prosecutors in the Chinese Plea Bargaining System: A Comparative Perspective

4. Is China’s Practice of Leniency for Admission of Guilty and Acceptance of Punishment Sustainable?

5. Sentencing Recommendations in Chinese Plea Bargaining System: Empirical Studies and Theoretical Reconsideration

The papers disclose the advantages and disadvantages of the Chinese plea-bargaining system and aim to improve the plea-bargaining system for a better Chinese criminal justice. The authors in this panel presents a few ideas for the reform to be considered in the future and hope to exchange ideas and thoughts with scholars from all over the world.

Subtopic

• Topic 5: Social Control and Criminal Justice / Prosecutorial Decision-making and the Prosecutorial Process, Alternatives to trial (Sentencing and Penal Decisionmaking WG)

Chair

• Shi Jiahui, Sichuan University School of Law

Individual Presentations

• The Guarantee of Voluntary Confessions under the Chinese Plea Bargaining System: Mechanism and Practice - Wu Hongyao, China University of Political Science and Law

• Empirical Study on the Application of the Chinese plea-bargaining system in the Crime of Helping Information Network Crime Cases - YUNXIAO LIU, China University of Political Science and Law

• Reconsideration of the Role of Prosecutors in the Chinese Plea Bargaining System: A Comparative Perspective - Shi Jiahui, Sichuan University School of Law