Diritti e diritto penale (Rights and criminal law)

Abstract

This article examines the changes that have happened in the Chinese criminal justice system since the early 2000s. It assesses the relevant legal and political trends and the debates concerning the protection of human rights in the context of criminal justice reforms. The article considers two case studies - the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2012 and the abolition of the system of re-education through labor - to explain the interaction among the various political, institutional, social and ideological factors that inform the process of change in the Chinese contemporary criminal justice. On the whole, the article argues that notwithstanding the numerous recent attempts to make the criminal trial fairer and transparent, changes have been happening slowly and very often un systematically determined by political needs. Show more