China’s public prosecutors have been warned to be alert to the risk of a popular backlash when handling court cases.
The Chinese government has imposed some of the world’s strictest controls on public expression, but is still hypersensitive to the risk of any public outcry, which it fears could threaten social stability.
The instruction to prosecutors came in a front-page editorial for The Procuratorial Daily, a mouthpiece for the country’s top prosecuting body, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
The article urged prosecutors to “resolutely oppose and resist wrong Western views of constitutionalism, the separation of powers and judicial independence”, echoing comments by President Xi Jinping.
In a further echo of Xi, it also said prosecutors should “dare to fight and fight well”.
They were also urged to standardise the handling of cases, ensure they were handled well and avoid a public backlash by ensuring cases were dealt with properly from the start.
It added that China’s prosecutors should improve their research and monitoring of cases and make sure they managed public opinion.
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“Ensure early detection, a quick response, correct guidance of the public and the proper handling of cases according to the law,” the editorial said.
In addition, it called for propaganda efforts by prosecutors to increase public recognition of the country’s legal system.
China’s prosecutors’ offices – also known as procuratorates – are an essential part of the judicial system but a number of miscarriages of justice have caused public concern.
It is exceptionally rare for defendants to be acquitted and the conviction rate in Chinese courts stood at 99.95 per cent last year, according to the Law Yearbook of China.
In February 2022, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said it was taking disciplinary action against those responsible for 246 wrongful convictions that had been identified since 2018. Of these cases, 22 involved defendants who were jailed for more than 10 years.
Last year, 10 prosecutors at different levels in Shandong were subjected to disciplinary action over their handling of the case, but were not removed from their posts.
It was the most recent case where action is known to have been taken against prosecutors
In recent years, several local procuratorates have made public pledges to do a better job of managing public opinion. Government tender records show that some regional procuratorates have paid for services to analyse public opinion.
In March, an article for the official Legal Daily newspaper said cases that generated widespread public interest were the main source of a public outcry over court proceedings.
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However, it said that the police and courts rather than prosecutors were the main targets of public outrage.
The publication also warned that failing to respond to public concerns about court cases had also had an impact and reduced awareness of the work prosecutors did.
