Notification Rules In Criminal Procedure

The Rule of Notification in criminal proceedings refers to the system where during the proceedings the specific state organs notify the litigants and other participants of their rights, obligations and other related matters and take the consequences of failing to do so. Characteristics of the rule include: legitimacy of the notified content, specificity of the notifiers, and universality of the effects of the notification. The significance of the rule is two-fold in terms of the Criminal Procedure Law and the Criminal Law: the former includes (ensuring participants'right of action is realized and improving litigation efficiency and establishing the authority of the judiciary; the latter includes enriching and procedurally expanding the principle of conviction and penalty according to law, better performance of the general preventive function of criminal law, and showcasing the special preventive function of punishment.However, China's implementation of the Rule of Notification has the following problems: the legislation of the rule mainly focuses on investigation, prosecution, and trial, investigation in particular but gives little or no legal prescription on placing a case on file and implementation; the content of the rule is far from comprehensive as many provisions are slightly touched on but the scope of rights are too vague to implement; no legal prescription of the form of notification; vacancy in notification guarantee procedure; and no procedural punishment in place to conductions in violation of the notification procedure. Thus, the role and significance of the Rule of Notification in China's criminal procedure hasn't been given its deserved emphasis.To improve the rule of notification in China's criminal procedure, we must first begin with establishment of its principles, such as the principle of openness in criminal proceedings and compliance with the obligations of procedural consideration. And then it is necessary to complement and improve the regulations on the specific state organs that are responsible for the notification and establish corresponding penalty system to failure to carry out such obligations. At the same time, based on International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which China is a state party, referencing relative international standards and regulations on the Rule of Notification by major representative countries of Civil Law and Common Law, and taking into account China's own specific realities, China should establish the rule of notification that suits its conditions the best.