Criminal First-instance Procedure Practical Issues

Fairness and efficiency is not only the main topic of court work in the 21st century, but also the core and soul of the whole judicial activity. The author uses the words of fairness, efficiency and human right safeguard on the same connotation. According to the author, the realization of fairness and efficiency is equal to the materialization of human right safeguard, and vice versa. To achieve the target of fairness, efficiency and human right safeguard, we must control the judicial corruption and undertake the judicial reform. In terms of the criminal lawsuit, the judicial reform involves the adjustment and reconstitution of the relationship among the public security organs, the procuratorial organs and the people's courts, and the re-understanding and location of their functions and the status. It also involves many other questions of the judicial organ with the power organ (the People's Congress), the ruling party, the social supervision, etc. The reform of criminal adjudication mode is only one aspect on judicial reform, of which the success can not depart from the reform and innovation of the whole judicial structure and system.This article's gist focuses on the main topic and soul of jurisdiction -- fairness and efficiency, striving for drawing the blueprint and laying the foundation for realizing the target and building the tower of judicial fairness in the procedure of first instance. Mainly expounding the practice issues in the procedure of first instance, this article emphatically analyses, evaluates and strives for resolving at least one or two practice issue(s) in every chapter. By means of comparison, analysis, and elaboration as well as the presentation of suggestions, opinions, approaches and countermeasures, it is the wish of the author to make contributions to the judicial reform and fairness. That is, "I call and applaud for fairness". The article is totally divided into 9 chapters excluding the Introduction.The Introduction section briefly introduces the reasons for selecting such a subject, research purpose and approach in this article, and conducts a brief analysis and macro evaluation to the reform of present adjudication mode and existing questions.Chapter I: On the Judicial Organization The trial power is exercised by court, and in the long run it is exercised by judicial organization (individual). So, an important topic faced by us is what kind of judicial organization exercises the most basic and important trial power involving the citizen's life, freedom and property. The author insists on reforming the present judicial organization mode, optimizing the judge group, and improving the qualification of all judges, including political qualification, professional qualification, and moral characters. In detail, the judicial committee should be canceled to realize the independent adjudication by judges; and the judge-choosing system should substitute the chief judge choosing system, so that the judge can really become the independent mainstay that has both position and power, and that the judgement and adjudication can be integrated. Further, the judge can become the elite of the society and the embodiment of intuitive knowledge and fairness. The article expounds, under the condition that the judicial committee can not be canceled temporarily, how to reform its staff-reconstitution, job responsibility, and operating mode, etc; under the condition that the judge-choosing system is difficult to go into effect temporarily, how to give full play to the choosing chief judge and the sole trial judge, and how to coordinate and deal with the relationship between the chosen chief judge and the full court, the presiding judge, and the judicial committee.Chapter II: On Jury Issue The jury trial is one of the most important ways for the common people to take part in the jurisdiction, and also an important reflection of judicial democratization. For a long period, the application performance of the jury trial system has not been satisfactory in China, and the cry for reform and ab...