CHINA> Human Rights Progress
Full Text: National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-13 15:08

(3) The right to a fair trial

The state, in accordance with the law, guarantees the rights of litigants, especially those charged with criminal offences, to an impartial trial.

- The state takes effective steps to guarantee the lawful, timely and impartial trial of all cases, and ensures clear facts, sufficient evidence and legitimate trial procedures.

- The information of open trials shall be fully released. As for open trial cases, the people's court shall announce, three days before the opening of the session, the summary of the case to be heard in public, the name of the defendant, and the time and place of the court session. People's courts are required by law to give the reasons for cases that are not tried openly.

- When trying cases openly, the court allows for evidence to be provided openly, witnesses to be questioned openly, all arguments made openly, and all judgments announced openly. Citizens with valid certificates may attend any open court session.

- People's courts with necessary conditions shall record or video their court sessions and major relevant trial activities, and establish audio-visual archives of trial work. The parties concerned may, in accordance with the law, consult or duplicate materials documented by the courts.

- The state encourages the higher people's courts at all levels to intensify their efforts to publicly release their judgment paper that has come into effect by working out detailed measures, such as via publications, local networks or the Internet.

- The state takes concrete measures to ensure people's jurors' right to participate in court trials in accordance with the law, allowing them to exercise their voting right independently in a collegial panel concerning the facts determined and the application of law in the judgment.

- The state encourages the revision and abolition of various laws, regulations and regulatory documents that are inconsistent with the Lawyers Law; guarantees lawyers' rights to meet, correspond with and review files of persons in custody, and to conduct investigations and collect evidence. The state also guarantees the personal rights of lawyers and their right to debate or defend when they carry out their duties.

- The state expands the targeted recipients and scope of judicial assistance. In light of relevant rules and actual case situation, the litigation fees shall be lowered by simplifying the procedures and increasing the range and sums of litigation costs that can be deferred, reduced or exempted in accordance with the law. The state promotes legislative work to provide national assistance to victims of crime, specifying the conditions, standards and procedures for such national assistance.

- The state is strengthening the legal aid system, and fulfilling the government's responsibility in this regard. It is also expanding the coverage of legal aid and increasing related funding, to extend convenient, rapid and sound legal aid to more poor people.

- The state is revising the State Compensation Law, and clarifying compensation issues, involving the applicant, the categories and scope, the organs under compensatory obligation, as well as the procedures, means and calculating standards, thus guaranteeing citizens, legal persons and other entities in their obtaining of state compensation.