Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Written evidence and the absence of witnesses : the inevitability of conviction in Chinese criminal justice

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Yu, Mou (2015) Written evidence and the absence of witnesses : the inevitability of conviction in Chinese criminal justice. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP_THESIS_Mou_2015.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer.

Download (1774Kb) | Preview
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2827397~S1

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Through analysis based on an empirical study of the Chinese criminal process, this thesis examines the underlying reasons that lead to a striking feature of criminal trials in China---the absence of witnesses. The Chinese criminal justice system routinely relies on official written dossiers to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. To investigate whether the constructed written evidence is truly reliable, participant observation and semi-structured interviews have been conducted to explore how these investigative dossiers are created, scrutinised and utilised at different stages of the criminal process. Themes that emerge in this study include the police's manipulation and fabrication of written statements, prosecutors' acceptance of, and even encouragement of, police malpractice in falsifying evidence, coerced prosecutorial interrogation in pursuit of a guilty plea, the pro forma trial process, predetermined judicial outcomes based on the official dossier produced and marginalised defence practice throughout the criminal process.

Approaching the enquiry from an internal perspective of the legal institutions for the first time within empirical research, this study outlines the key issues with the Chinese criminal justice system through examination of the strategic inter-relationships between the key legal actors, the deep-seated legal culture embedded in legal actions and the structural injustices that follow. Positioning these findings within the Chinese socio-political context, this study reveals that the criminal justice system in China is not a precise truth-finding process, but serves as a State apparatus of social control. The criminal justice system has been structured through the Appraisal System, bureaucratic management, and the central value of collectivism in such a way as to maintain the stability of the authoritarian regime. None of China’s criminal justice institutions are capable of functioning independently to protect innocent individuals from being wrongly accused and convicted. Thus, wrongful convictions should not be seen as aberrational or exceptional, but as an inevitable outcome of established deficiencies.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects: K Law [LC] > KN Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Criminal justice, Administration of -- China, Trials -- China, Evidence (Law) -- China, Witnesses -- China
Official Date: February 2015
Dates:
DateEvent
February 2015Submitted
Institution: University of Warwick
Theses Department: School of Law
Thesis Type: PhD
Publication Status: Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: Hodgson, Jacqueline ; Leng, Roger, 1953-
Extent: vi, 308 leaves
Language: eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us