A Study On The History Of Chinese Criminal Summary Procedure

Although the criminal summary procedure was only established in the 1996 Criminal Procedure Law,after nearly 30 years of judicial practice and development,and after the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2012,the 2018 Criminal Procedure Law did not amend the criminal summary procedure but added a section of the fast-track sentencing procedure.At this point,ordinary procedure,criminal summary procedure and fast-track sentencing procedure have formed the basic system of criminal procedure in China,which is very different from the criminal procedure system established in 1979.This article is a re-study of the criminal summary procedure,in order to promote the understanding and reflection on it,and declares the following:First of all,by combing through the existing research literature（including monographs,doctoral dissertations,master’s degree dissertations and journal papers）,our research on them can be divided into the following categories:（1）monographs that make comprehensive research on criminal summary procedure;（2）research on conceptual analysis or definition of criminal summary procedure;（3）research on the value of criminal summary procedure;（4）research on judicial practice of criminal summary procedure.Through combing through,we found that there are two problems in the existing research,one is that there is no consensus on the definition of criminal summary procedure,and the other is the lack of research on the legal text of criminal summary procedure.This is the logical starting point for this article to expand.On the basis of combing through the literature,the author proposes a basic classification of criminal summary procedure:criminal summary procedure in the formal sense and criminal summary procedure in the substantive sense or as procedural diversion,the latter is a definition favored in this article.Further,this article will examine the four Criminal Procedure Laws promulgated between 1979 and 2018 as procedural diversions,in order to explore the historical changes,gains and losses and future development trends of criminal summary procedure.Second,we explore the formal sense of criminal summary procedure:the 1979 Criminal Procedure Law,the 1996 Criminal Procedure Law and the judicial interpretations,judicial opinions and other legal documents issued between them are described and stated,and the basic picture of the system is outlined.If we take the judgment established in this article（that is,the substantive criminal summary procedure should have the two basic functions of procedural diversion and improving the efficiency of the procedure）,the criminal summary procedure established in China during this period should be a summary procedure in the formal sense,and it cannot really form a parallel pattern with the ordinary criminal procedure,but is more of a symbol,that is,China’s criminal procedure should present a richer procedural system.Third,to explore the substantive sense of the criminal summary procedure:taking march 14,2003,the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice issued the《Several Opinions on the Application of Ordinary Procedures to Try"Defendants’Plea Cases"（Trial Implementation）》as the starting point,and by the promulgation of the new Criminal Procedure Law in 2018,China’s criminal summary procedure has two major functions of criminal summary procedure in the substantive sense,namely,procedural diversion and improving litigation efficiency;At the same time,the fast-track sentencing procedure（which should fall within the scope of substantive criminal summary procedure）has been added.In addition,criminal procedure presents a pattern of criminal summary procedure,fast-track sentencing procedure and ordinary procedure standing on the foot,enriching and developing the theory and practice of China’s criminal procedure system.Finally,by examining the basic system,operational procedures and scope of application of the criminal summary procedure,we also find that there are overlaps,ambiguities and loopholes in the current legal provisions.On this basis,we continue to analyze and examine the future development trend of criminal summary procedure in China or the basic elements and precautions that should be paid attention to when constructing future criminal summary procedure.In summary,by establishing a criterion,this paper makes a history and current situation of China’s criminal summary procedure,promotes the understanding of criminal summary procedure,and further defines the relationship between criminal summary procedure,fast-track sentencing procedure and ordinary procedure.