The Study Of The Criminal Pretrial Conference System

In recent years,the reform of criminal trial has been one of the priorities of the judicial reform.The Code of Criminal Procedure(1996)had conducted significant reforms in trial,by the terms of reference type trial mode transition to the adversarial trial mode.But it did not give full play to the advantages of this trial reform in practice.And the main cause of this situation is the insufficient aware of the importance of pretrial preparation procedures for the protection of the trial value.The long-standing neglect of pre-trial preparation procedures and system construction result in a pre-trial preparation procedures to serious mistakes and defects in the purpose,function and content settings.It can’t guarantee the trial being centralized,rapid refereed etc.It can cause the conflict between the way "one step to the court" and the Adversary trial concept.Pretrial Conference system stipulated in Article 182,paragraph 2,of the Code of Criminal Procedure(2012)is to improve and deepen the pre-trial preparation procedures.At the same time,the Supreme People’s Court defined the scope of application of the pre-trial conference,the participating subjects and functions through the judicial interpretation.Pretrial conference is essentially belongs to the pre-trial preparation procedures and it plays an important role in the adequate preparation of the pre-trial and helps to make trials concentrated and efficient.But,to give full play to the role of the pre-trial conference,we still needs explorations and tests in practice.The paper can be divided into 4 parts besides the introduction and conclusion.The first section is the generation and evolution of the criminal pretrial conference system.Firstly,in our judicial practice,the core content of the pretrial conference system which is "to understand the situation,listen to the views" has experienced generated,extinction and recovery process.This process reflects the gradual improvements of our criminal pretrial programs.Secondly,the explorations of the pretrial conference among the courts all over our country provide a lot of practical experience for the promotion of the pretrial conference.The courts had made certain achievements in the trial process,such as how to perfect the pretrial conference and how to standardize the operations of pretrial conference.And at the same time,there are some problems,such as the consensus that don’t have to bear the adverse consequences results in a lack of effectiveness.Thirdly,the establishment of pretrial conference system will have a positive impact on China criminal procedure.such as deepening the pretrial preparation procedures,strengthen the function of the trial,to assure a fair and expeditious trial to accused better.The second section mainly discusses revelation of the Extraterritorial Criminal Pretrial Conference.Firstly,they have played the same function of the pre-trial conference system,although they don’t share the same name.Secondly,extraterritorial countries usually improve and deepen procedure preparation through the establishment of pretrial conference system.In those countries,the function of the pretrial conference which can clear the issues,centralized the limited energy to resolve the disputes and the Specific procedures of the pretrial conference,they all have a positive meaning to the pretrial conference system in China.Lastly,revelation of the Extraterritorial Criminal Pretrial Conference:1.The return of transferring all dossiers.2.The reform of the pretrial review system.3.Pretrial conference implementation mechanism should reflect the true legislative intent.The third section studies problems that may be encountered in the implementation of Pretrial conference system in China.Firstly,paragraph 2 of Article 182 in the Code of Criminal Procedure(2012)and the judicial interpretation of the Supreme Court have made it clear about the scope--Parties and their defender or agent is to apply the exclusionary rule;evidentiary material more complex or the case material;the social impact significant and the other circumstances need to convene;convened time—before the trial,participants—staff,the public prosecutor,the parties,defender or agent,and the problems to be solved,such as jurisdiction objection,evasion,and apply for obtaining of evidence,provide new evidence,clear to appear in court the witness,appraiser,have special knowledge,application list of illegal evidence elimination,application shall not be heard in public and the other problems that related to trial.Secondly,pretrial conference system in China still has some gaps from the view of judicial application,such as the convening mode of the conference is unclear,the scope of participants is not accurate,and the mode of processing is single,the legal effect is not clear.The forth section makes some proposals for introductions of criminal pretrial conference system.Firstly,clarify the scope of application of the pre-trial conference further.First to extend the circumstances that can be applied to the pre-trial conference,such as a case with a juror.And then stipulate the situations shall not apply to the pretrial conference,such as a case in which the defendant does not have a defender.Secondly,stipulate the participants of a pretrial conference.On one hand,the host of the pretrial conference shall be served by the court staff,and if the case is complex or with variety of evidence,all the members of collegial panel shall participate in the conference and the conference should be presided over by the chief judge.On the other hand,as an important participant in the pre-trial conference,both the prosecution and the defense should be involved at the same time.Whether or not to notify the defendants to participate should be according to the specific circumstances of the case as well as the problems the pretrial conference to solve.But if the defendant does not have a defender,a pretrial conference should not be allowed.Thirdly,standardize the specific operational procedures of the pretrial conference.On one hand,we need to improve the initiator program of the pretrial conference,including the premise,manner,time and number of times.On the other hand,we should identify the problems to be solved by the pre-trial conference.At last,the effectiveness of the Pretrial Conference should adapt to whether the judicial officers have the right to make decisions.