As my expertise on criminal law matters is quite limited, this is mostly a FYI post. If you live in certain jurisdictions, you may not be familiar with the concept of unsolicited judicial guidance being issued by the nation’s top court. In the U.S., for example, the Supreme Court may not simply write an opinion [...]
Did public pressure lead to arrest of serial rapist? Not according to what I’ve read.
If China really wants to move away from the death penalty, arguments that appeal to mercy and leniency are not going to get the job done.
The latest installment in my 751-part series on why we shouldn’t be too happy about ad hoc criminal justice, even if we approve of the outcome.
Trust me, one day in the near future, you will hear a Chinese government official cite to this case as proof of US hypocrisy.
Beijing passes new rule allowing lawyers to attend interrogations. Measure designed to prevent forced confessions.
A court this week in Guangzhou conducted a long-distance criminal appellate trial via video conference. Provincial authorities want to expand this type of trial to the grassroots, saving time and expense.
Guy goes to prison for a long time for a crime he didn’t commit, based on a faulty ID. Not a significant case, more of a pop legal headline grabber. I did have one or two minor comments, though. First, as usual, the basics, courtesy of the Telegraph: Zhao Zuohai was jailed in 2002 for [...]
Time to finish up this story about the people in Hebei whose arrests were based on forged warrants. Part I was a run-down of the facts surrounding the arrest and how these individuals were processed by the criminal justice system. Part II discussed the fake arrest warrant issue and how it might be a broader [...]
Yesterday I wrote about a case in Hebei where five individuals were arrested by police who were using forged arrest warrants. After a description of the facts, I ended on this note: This is all bad enough, but there are two additional issues here that stand out. First, the warrants used to arrest Song and [...]
This is quite a story, and I say that having spent more than ten years reading about these kinds of incidents. The basic facts are that the documentation used to justify the arrest of a group of people in Hebei Province were forged. This might remind you of the post I wrote a while back [...]
Bribe-taking among Rio Tinto’s Shanghai iron ore executives was more extensive than previously thought and may have undermined the company’s revenue, court documents show. Judge Liu Xin’s written verdict in the trial of Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues lays out in forensic detail how they sought, received and sometimes laundered huge personal gains. [...]
This is the top China story of the day, and since it also involves a legal topic, I sort of feel obligated to chime in. Despite the copious amount of press coverage, though, I don’t really think this case is all that important in the grand scheme of things. I can’t say that I agree [...]