| With the establishment of speedy trial procedure for criminal cases in China’s amended Criminal Procedure Law in 2018,speedy trial procedure for criminal cases has been widely applied across the country.Based on the characteristics of quick process of handling cases,the defendant’s confession of guilt and identification of punishment,court investigation,court debate and other simplified trial processes,the application of the speedy trial procedure for criminal cases has greatly improved the efficiency of litigation.Of course,while seeing the positive significance of speedy trial procedure for criminal cases,it should also be noted that in criminal judicial practice,if too much emphasis is placed on the improvement of procedural efficiency in speedy trial procedure for criminal cases,it is likely to weaken the protection of the rights of the defendant in speedy trial procedure for criminal cases.Although the Criminal Procedure Law has certain provisions on the protection of the defendant’s right to know,procedural option,right of final statement,right of appeal and other litigation rights,sentencing preferential treatment and voluntary confession in the speedy trial procedure for criminal cases.Due to the comparative principle and generality of the legislation,there are still some difficult problems in the practical operation.This is obviously not conducive to the effective protection of the rights of the accused.Countries outside the region have also set up fast-track trial procedures for minor criminal cases when carrying out the diversified reform of criminal procedure.For example,the plea bargaining procedure of the United States,the fast-track trial procedure of the United Kingdom,the penalty order procedure of Germany and the plea negotiation procedure of Italy are all very representative.In the application of these procedures,the defendant’s right to know,the procedure option,the right to the assistance of an attorney,voluntary confession and sentencing preferential treatment have been clearly stipulated in the law.On the basis of analyzing,studying and learning from the mature experience of countries outside the region,and aiming at the relevant problems of the protection of the rights of the accused currently existing in China.In addition to unequivocally upholding the basic principle of undiminished rights under simplified procedures,the relevant provisions on protecting the defendant’s right to lawyer assistance,procedural option,sentencing preferential treatment and voluntary confession shall be further improved.To ensure the impartiality of the application of speedy trial procedure for criminal cases to minor criminal cases,protect the reliance interest of the accused in choosing speedy trial procedure for criminal cases,so as to improve the application rate of quick speedy trial procedure for criminal cases and further promote the improvement of litigation efficiency. |
