Prison procuratorial agencies renamed "Criminal Execution Procuratorial Institutions" with expanded duties and more comprehensive functions.
The term "prison and detention supervision" that has been used for over 30 years will be retired from the historical stage.
To meet the requirements of new tasks, with the approval of relevant departments, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has decided to uniformly rename its prison and detention house supervision agencies as criminal execution procuratorial agencies. "This renaming is not simply a change of department name or title." Yuan Qiguo, Director of the Criminal Execution Procuratorial Department of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said in an interview with a Legal Daily reporter today that the renaming will help the Supreme People's Procuratorate strengthen unified leadership, management and coordination of criminal execution procuratorial work across all procuratorial organs nationwide, and promote the comprehensive and in-depth development of criminal execution procuratorial work.
The original name cannot cover all responsibilities.
In recent years, with the development of China's economy, society, and the rule of law, especially following the implementation of the amended Criminal Procedure Law in 2013 and the abolition of the re-education through labor system, significant changes have occurred in the responsibilities undertaken by procuratorial departments in prisons and detention houses. According to Yuan Qiguo, these changes are mainly manifested in the addition of new duties to the existing ones, including on-site supervision of death penalty executions, supervision of community corrections, supervision of the execution of property-related penalties, supervision of the execution of residential surveillance at designated locations, review and supervision of the necessity of detention, and supervision of the execution of compulsory medical treatment.
The newly added responsibilities mainly involve three aspects: supervision of penalty execution, supervision of the execution of criminal compulsory measures, and supervision of compulsory medical treatment execution, all of which fall within the scope of criminal execution procuratorial work. "As a department name, 'prison and detention house procuratorial work' can no longer encompass the department's responsibilities. Using the name 'criminal execution procuratorial work' can comprehensively and accurately reflect the nature of the department's work and the scope of its responsibilities, and can also better reflect the consistency and statutory nature of the department's name and responsibilities. Therefore, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has decided to rename the Prison and Detention House Procuratorial Department as the Criminal Execution Procuratorial Department," said Yuan Qiguo.
It is reported that after the Supreme People's Procuratorate established the Criminal Execution Inspection Department, local procuratorial organs at all levels have correspondingly set up criminal execution inspection departments.
The renaming aligns with new requirements for upholding justice.
In 2014, the series of cases involving illegal sentence reductions for Zhang Hai, former chairman of Guangdong Jianlibao Group, drew widespread attention. In this series of illegal sentence reduction cases, 24 individuals were placed under investigation by procuratorial organs, including 11 from judicial administration and prison systems, 3 from detention center systems, 1 from the court system, 2 lawyers, and 7 individuals from society. "The Zhang Hai illegal sentence reduction series was discovered and handled precisely by the criminal execution procuratorial departments of the procuratorial organs, severely punishing corruption behind high walls and powerfully safeguarding the uniformity of penalty execution," said Yuan Qiguo. He stated that the Supreme People's Procuratorate's renaming this time is an important measure to thoroughly implement the spirit of the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee, fully perform the criminal execution supervision duties conferred by the Criminal Procedure Law, and actively respond to the people's new expectations and requirements for strengthening legal supervision and upholding social fairness and justice.
The reporter learned that the renamed Criminal Execution Procuratorial Department of the Supreme People's Procuratorate is responsible for guiding the criminal execution legal supervision work of procuratorial organs nationwide, with seven major functions including:
To guide the supervision work of procuratorial organs nationwide over whether the activities of courts, public security organs, prisons, detention houses, community correction institutions and other executing organs in executing criminal punishments, as well as activities involving changes in execution such as commutation of sentence, parole, and temporary execution outside prison, are lawful;
Responsible for supervising whether the public security organs lawfully carry out regulatory activities over criminal suspects and defendants subject to criminal detention, arrest, and residential surveillance at a designated location, as well as guiding the supervision of extended detention, the review of cases with prolonged detention without resolution, and the review of the necessity of detention;
Be responsible for guiding the supervision of whether compulsory medical treatment enforcement activities are lawful;
Responsible for guiding the investigation of duty-related criminal cases handled by the criminal execution procuratorial department, including cases of abuse of persons under supervision, unauthorized release of persons in custody, dereliction of duty resulting in the escape of persons in custody, engaging in malpractices for personal gain in commutation of sentences, parole, or temporary serving of sentences outside prison, and bribery.
Responsible for guiding the review of arrests and review of prosecution in cases involving new crimes committed by convicts during criminal execution;
Handle requests for instructions on difficult issues in the work of the criminal execution procuratorial departments of lower-level courts.
Researching and formulating detailed rules and regulations for criminal execution inspection work.
Strengthening supervision of criminal execution to protect human rights.
Since the implementation of the new Criminal Procedure Law, procuratorial organs across the country have focused on strengthening criminal execution supervision and judicial protection of human rights, with clear priorities in criminal execution procuratorial work. The reporter learned that on March 20, 2014, the Supreme People's Procuratorate deployed a special procuratorial activity on commutation of sentences, parole, and temporary serving of sentences outside prison lasting more than nine months across procuratorial organs nationwide, supervising and correcting a number of illegal issues; researched and formulated regulations for procuratorial organs handling commutation and parole cases, established a filing and review system for penalty modification and execution of duty-related criminal offenders, and jointly formulated regulations on temporary serving of sentences outside prison with relevant departments.
As of November 2014, procuratorial organs nationwide had investigated and handled 936 cases involving 1,134 persons for duty-related crimes in criminal enforcement activities. In cases where continued custody was unnecessary, recommendations were made for the release or modification of compulsory measures for 17,676 persons, of which 17,074 were adopted. Regarding improper enforcement of compulsory medical treatment, 239 corrective opinions were issued, and 231 were rectified. Supervision of enforcement of residential surveillance at a designated location was strengthened, with 648 corrective opinions and recommendations issued for improper enforcement. In conjunction with relevant departments, acquittals were processed for several long-term detention cases that could neither be released, prosecuted, nor sentenced, including the cases of Nian Bin in Fujian and Li Huailiang in Henan. Through efforts in recent years, the number of deaths of persons under supervision in custodial facilities nationwide has shown a marked downward trend.
According to the introduction, the criminal execution procuratorial departments will strengthen supervision over corporal punishment and abuse of detainees in custody facilities, the improper use of restraints or solitary confinement measures, and increase efforts to protect the lawful rights and interests of minors, the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled among detainees and inmates, and severely crack down on “cell bosses” and repeat offenses by convicts in accordance with the law. They will focus on investigating and handling, in accordance with the law, duty-related criminal cases such as bribery, dereliction of duty, and infringement that seriously undermine the fairness and integrity of criminal execution, seriously affect custody security and social stability, and seriously violate the lawful rights and interests of persons subject to criminal execution.
It is understood that in October this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will hear a special report from the Supreme People's Procuratorate on the supervision of criminal punishment execution. "Next, criminal execution procuratorial departments nationwide will focus on supervision over the delivery of criminal punishments, alteration of criminal punishment execution, community corrections, and reviews of the necessity of detention, and make greater efforts to strengthen supervision over the execution of property-related penalties, residential surveillance at a designated location, compulsory medical treatment, and on-site supervision of death penalty executions, so as to effectively uphold fairness and justice," said Yuan Qiguo.
(Legal Daily)
