Basic Human Rights In Criminal Procedure

This doctorate thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter explores the semantic and contextual meaning of human rights issue in criminal procedure, thus making out the specific implication of ""human nghts" in criminal procedure and "human rights protection" in criminal procedure; Further, the second chapter generalizes theoretically the meaning, characteristics, subjects and contents of basic human rights in criminal procedure; The third chapter is intended to analyze the primary relations of basic human rights among constitutional law, international human rights law and criminal procedure law; The last chapter, namely, the fourth chapter mainly discusses the constitutional basis of basic human nghts in criminal procedure in PR of China.Dealing with human rights in criminal procedure and their protection involves, for and most, the determination of semantics and context. From the historical view of such research, we have witnessed three different semantic interpretations of human rights protection in criminal procedure. The first focuses on the ultimate aim of criminal procedure, thinking that cnminal procedure maintains national security and social order thus to cater for all citizens" legal interest through properly punishing criminals; While the second puts more weight on substantive significance, holding that criminal procedure plays a dual role in ensuring that the convicted receives a just sentence and preventing the innocent from penal prosecution; However, the third concentrates on the procedural significance of criminal procedural law, maintaining that criminal procedure protect procedural rights of the participants in the action, especially the prosecuted. On the whole, the above three are logically progressive. Procedural human rights protection is the basis of the substantive human rights protection, and both represent and serve the ultimate aim of human rights protection in criminal procedure. However, comprehending the human rights protection in criminal procedure requires particular restrictions contextually, that is, within the context of criminal procedure and corresponding to strike of crimes. Out of the above three interpretations of human rights protection, only the interpretation from theprocedural aspect meets the contextual requirement of researching human rights in criminal procedure. Without distinguishing from each other when using, there may be danger of decrying or negating the value of human rights protection in criminal procedure. Hence, it can be safely concluded that human rights in criminal procedure are procedural and that it bears independent value in criminal procedure though it is based on the substantive human rights. Human rights directly protected by criminal procedure are the procedural rights of the participants in the action.Human rights in criminal procedure, can be defined as procedural rights participants enjoy or should enjoy in criminal procedure. And basic human rights in criminal procedure refer to basic procedural rights participants enjoy or should enjoy in criminal procedure. It is so called "basic" because these rights are most fundamental among all the procedural rights and because they are the rights which need most confirmation and protection by constitutional law and other laws. Although all participants in the criminal action are the subjects of rights in criminal procedure, only the prosecuted are the subjects of basic human rights in criminal procedure. The primary reason is that the rights of the prosecuted involve such fundamental rights and freedom as personal freedom, personal dignity, property, privacy even life, to name just a few. The secondary reason is that the procedural rights of the prosecuted are tense with the state power and accessible to be challenged and encroached by the latter. Thus, the rights of the prosecuted need special care and protection. Basic human rights in criminal procedure are, in essence, citizens' basic human rights, which are specified in criminal procedure. The significance of the rights lies in confirmi...