CHINA-INTERNAL: LAW/NPC

 Zhu Zhengfu, Deputy Chairman of the All China Lawyers Association,said in an interview with Beijing News that was widely disseminated in China on mARCH 3, 2016, that China should not drag people in front of the cameras to plead guilty and that such confessions are of little legal value and may rely on coercion. He said “Legally speaking, if there is no evidence to support the case, a guilty plea on television should be inadmissible, because there are too many possibilities for a suspect to be led into pleading guilty against their will and contrary to the facts.”


Zhu Zhengfu, who is a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) which is scheduled to open in Beijing on March 4, 2016, has proposed nine judicial reforms, which include expanding bail, allowing lawyers to be present for interrogation of suspects and “providing conditions for a judge to make an innocent verdict, according to the law.” Analysts point out that the last noted recommendation is a particularly damning indictment of a system with a conviction rate above 99 per cent, where guilt is often determined by political influence, and by people who have not even listened to arguments in court.
 






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