| Generally speaking,the court shall not try criminal defendants in absentia in the case that they don’t appear in the court as a way to safeguard their basic litigation rights.However,since the 18 th National Congress of the CPC,China has stepped up its efforts to crack down on corruption.With the modern criminal procedure system laying more emphasis on litigation efficiency,it is absolutely imperative to cope with the inefficient litigation caused by the escape of criminal suspects or defendants.On October 26,2018,the decision to amend the Criminal Procedure Law was approved in a vote at the meeting of the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13 th National People’s Congress,adding a special chapter to set up the trial procedure in absentia.The establishment of criminal trial in absentia is not only instrumental in severely punishing corruption crimes and carrying out the overseas pursuit of fugitives and asset recovery,but also helps to make the litigation of corruption crimes more efficient and save the cost of the litigation.On the other hand,trial in absentia serves as an exception to judgment inter parties and defendants themselves are absent from court proceedings,leading to an infringement of defendants’ relevant procedural rights,especially their debating right,the right to confrontation and to last statement in criminal procedure.It has been disputed among academic circles.Given this,is it essential to protect the procedural rights of the accused in the criminal trial in absentia oriented by the value of litigation efficiency?The answer is yes,and how to give the best protection to such rights within the existing legal framework?In addition to the "introduction" of the first part and the "conclusion" of the tail,the main content of this article is distributed in the second,third,fourth and fifth parts:Based on the comparison and induction of various viewpoints,the second section first gives a clear definition of the concept of the system of criminal trial by default and the connotation of the defendant procedural rights,and conducts research on relevant issues.The third section sorts out and analyzes the legitimacy foundation of the system of criminal trial by default and the theoretical basis for guaranteeing the defendant procedural rights.The fourth section analyzes the provisions of China’s new code of criminal procedure,the current status of the law on the protection of the defendant procedural rights,and the practical obstacles.There are three main obstacles.First,the protection of procedural rights by law is not comprehensive.Second,the existing provisions on the procedure for exercising the right of relief are not sufficiently detailed.Third,the design of the current relief system is relatively simple.Through the combination of the current obstacles in the procedural safeguard of the defendant and foreign legislation,the last section puts forward some suggestions.By implementing the existing defendant procedural rights,optimizing the existing provisions on the procedure for exercising the right of relief,and expanding the current relief system,the protection of the defendant procedural rights can be strengthened,and the maximum balance between the punishment of crimes and the protection of human rights can be achieved. |
