A Study On The Trial Of Criminal Cases In Jiangsu Province In The Early Republican Period

At the beginning of the Republic of China,Jiangsu Province,as the seat of the interim government,was in the forefront of the judicial reform in the country,especially the establishment of the Provincial Audit and Procuratorate Office.It had begun in the late Qing Dynasty,with the number reaching the highest in the country at that time,which was conducive to the trial of cases but also had problems.At the end of the Qing Dynasty,the trial of specific criminal cases in Jiangsu Province showed the social outlook at the beginning of the legal reform.The basis of case trial is both new law and traditional law,which reflects the imbalance between state governance ability and social development in the late Qing Dynasty.Secondly,in the late Qing Dynasty,county officials paid too much attention to rational factors when trying cases,and mediation was still used to solve minor criminal cases.The reform of the judicial system is obvious,but the change of thought takes time.Especially in the late Qing Dynasty,the interests,emotions and powers of the ruling class need to be taken into account at the same time of the judicial reform.In accepting criminal cases in the early Republic of China,the Procuratorate of Justice paid attention to new evidence to prove cases,such as murder weapons,inspection reports and other substantive evidence.In terms of legal procedures,the parties are required to abide by the prosecution procedure in criminal cases,and shall not be accepted without due process,except in special circumstances.Lawyer's defense system appeared more frequently in the trial of criminalcases in the early Republic of China,which helped the parties to plead and supervised the judges' trial.In order to avoid the positive influence of traditional judicial practices on the laws of the early Republic of China,the substantive laws on which criminal cases are judged give judges more power in the form of laws and regulations.Judges can make criminal judgments in accordance with the public psychology within the scope of law.From the end of Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the Republic of China,the trial of criminal cases has evolved in many ways.No new laws were enacted in the early Republic of China.The substantive and procedural laws applied to the trial of cases were the results of the revision of laws in the late Qing Dynasty.Judges from the late Qing Dynasty administrative and judicial officials,to professional personnel with legal learning background,are conducive to the legalization of case trial;lawyers are another active role in the early Republic of China judicial arena,this profession from the negative impression of ancient litigants,evolved into respected professional lawyers,to help the public solve legal problems,understand the new law;More attention should be paid to the strength of material evidence in case trial.The judgment of a case is based on reason to specific law,and more attention is paid to the status of procedural law in the trial.The important reason for the change of law in the early Republic of China is the change of social psychology of the people since the late Qing Dynasty.At the beginning of the Republic of China,the establishment of the new regime,the low level of economic development,and the obstacles of traditional legal culture were the main factors affecting the trial of specific cases.At the beginning of the Republic of China,people's legal concepts did not change much,they did not understand the provisions of the new law,and they didnot understand the procedure of legal prosecution,which affected the trial.Some legal practitioners' literacy is not high,which is seriously affected by traditional judicial practices.This is not due to the individual problems of the practitioners,but to the unique limitations of the development of the times.The trial of criminal cases in Jiangsu Province at the beginning of the Republic of China shows the tortuous development of law under the new situation.It has both the progressiveness of the new period and the fact that people's legal demands and reality have to be taken into account.Although judicial retrogression sometimes occurs,it is a basic and indispensable part of the development history of the whole law.