Courts
told to ignore illegal evidence
By Cao
Yin (China Daily)
China's
top court has told every court nationwide to strictly exclude evidence
collected illegally, in an effort to reduce wrongful convictions and protect
human rights.
"When
we looked back at wrongful cases corrected over the past few years, we found
the mistakes were attributable to our undeveloped legal awareness, as well as
improper legal procedures while tackling the cases,"
said Dai Changlin, a member of the trial committee at
the Supreme People's Court.
A
guideline released on Tuesday ordered courts at all levels to find suspects
innocent when evidence is insufficient to prove their guilt, and to not accept
evidence that is obtained illegally.
The
guideline stipulates that courts should review the legality of evidence before
hearing a case and they are not allowed to continue with cases if evidence has
been collected in an improper manner.
"For
example, evidence won't be accepted if it is obtained by torture," Dai
said.
The
guideline also asks judges to review interrogation videos and audio that are provided as evidence, adding that they must exclude
those that are damaged or edited by investigators or prosecutors.
Dai
confirmed some defendants in high-profile wrongful cases, such as NieShubin, were tortured during interrogations.
Nie, who was
wrongly convicted and executed for rape and murder in North China's Hebei province more than 20 years ago, was exonerated in
December.
"We
should sentence those who commit real crimes, but for defendants where the
evidence cannot prove their guilt, we must free them," Dai said.
The
guideline is to uphold justice, as well as to protect human rights, he added.
Wang
Ling, a judicial official at the top court's publicity department, said they
will disclose examples of whether the guideline is being fully enforced in a
timely manner.
Ji Chunwei, a criminal lawyer in Guangdong province, applauded
the guideline, describing it as a significant step to reduce wrongful
convictions.
Procedures
are regarded as a way of achieving justice, "so not handling a case in
accordance with procedures will harm justice", he said.
"Justice
must not only be done, but must be seen to be done," he added.