Study On The Trial Of Japanese War Criminals By Taiyuan Special Military Court(1952-1956)

The trial of Japanese war criminals by Taiyuan Special Military Tribunal in 1956 was the continuation and final chapter of the trial of Japanese war criminals by China after the end of World War II.Under the background of socialist comprehensive reform and judicial learning from the Soviet Union "east wind overcomes west wind",this trial has historical significance because of the application of British and American international law and domestic counter-revolutionary regulations for Japanese war criminals.In view of the international environment and political concepts at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China,the judicial organs are more motivated by the judicial concept of "substantive justice" rather than "procedural justice".They hope to cooperate with the criminal investigation organs to collect evidence through ideological reform and humanitarian influence,so as to realize all the war criminals’ confession and repentance.Therefore,a special mode of reform before trial,which is different from the usual judicial procedures,has emerged.For the necessity of crime investigation,the related war criminals from Shanxi were detained in Taiyuan War Criminals Administration Center for centralized discipline.Under the premise of humanitarian treatment throughout the whole process,the discipline of war criminals should be coordinated with the focus of work at each stage.At the beginning,he explained policies and calmed the nerves of war criminals.During the interrogation,the focus of discipline is to reverse the militaristic ideology of war criminals,so that they can understand the crime and cooperate with the investigation.Most of the lesser criminals will be pardoned in batches before trial.The focus of discipline at this time is to make them realize the disaster caused by the war through confession education and visits,and to continue to follow the path of peace after returning home.After the trial,the task of discipline was changed to continuing education for those who had not yet been pardoned and to maintaining the day-to-day management of convicted war criminals.Determining the crimes of war criminals is an important prerequisite for the trial.New China attaches great importance to the investigation and investigation of war crimes.Under the strict principle of evidence centralism,the investigators corroborate the indoor interrogation and the field investigation.In the process of evidence annihilation,public concerns and other difficulties,the staff worked out a set of effective methods.According to the size of the crimes of war criminals and after several rounds of screening,on the premise of ensuring the accuracy of the evidence,we finally completed the filing of all war criminals.As the trial approaches,further preparations need to be carried out,including confirming the list of defendants,drafting the indictment of war criminals and determining the relevant layout of the court before the trial.Political and ideological work was also carried out on convicted war criminals and witnesses before and during the trial,so as to prevent war criminals from recanting their confession and witnesses from getting stage fright.The formal trial has the characteristics of a strict civil law system.In accordance with strict trial procedures,the crimes of war criminals were investigated and debated.The trial not only punished the war criminals,reflected fairness and justice,but also played a good educational effect on the spectators.The remaining war criminals were then treated without prosecution and sent home in batches.At the beginning of the establishment of the regime,the New China announced the abolition of all the Kuomintang’s old legal traditions and established a judicial system with Soviet-style colors.In the 1950 s,China was undergoing socialist transformation and international relations between China and Japan were gradually easing.The trial of Japanese war criminals in New China was obviously influenced by the legal system construction and political environment at that time.The war criminals tried in Taiyuan also committed the double crimes of war crimes and counter-revolutionary crimes,so the trial process reflected the characteristics of war criminals trial different from other countries and regions.Although the trial was inevitably political,a strict legal spirit was followed in the trial and its preparation.In the process of discipline,investigation and trial,it embodies the characteristics of combining international law and domestic law in the application of law.The investigation and sentencing follow the logic of lenient system of confession and punishment;The crime evidence investigation reflects the color of strict evidence centralism;And generally influenced by policy and legal pragmatism.