Application Of Restrictions On Arrest

The criminal justice policy of "fewer arrests,more cautious prosecutions and more cautious detentions" was formally established by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2021,and the requirement of "strictly enforcing arrests and detentions to maintain social stability" was clearly stated in the Opinions on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era.The successive amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law have also maintained the attitude of strict control over the application of coercive measures of arrest.The purpose of strengthening the strict supervision of arrest is to solve the two long-standing problems that have plagued judicial practice,namely "arrest on conviction" and "end of detention",and to change the judicial ideology that focuses only on the punishment of crime,but not on the protection of human rights,which is also an important aspect of implementing the concept of lenient and strict criminal justice.At this stage,it is urgent to analyze the current situation and the difficulties faced by the procuratorial practice of the criminal justice policy of fewer arrests and prudent prosecution and detention,and to explore how to solve the problems,break the resistance,further promote the implementation of the criminal justice policy,reduce the arrest rate,and achieve a balance between the protection of human rights and the punishment of crime.Arrest is one of the strictest coercive measures,which plays a very crucial role in ensuring the normal conduct of criminal proceedings,effective punishment for criminal acts,and harmony and stability of society.The purpose of restricting the application of arrest is to control criminal coercive measures and criminal prosecution within a reasonable and necessary limit,which is essential to achieve a balance between the protection of human rights and punishment of crime,as well as the implementation of the criminal justice policy of "fewer arrests,more careful prosecution and more careful detention.The basic concepts of the arrest system are human rights protection,power restraint and due process,and the principle of proportionality.On the basis of adhering to the basic concepts of the arrest system,restrictions are imposed on the application of arrest,so that the functions of arrest in protecting human rights and punishing crime can be balanced to the maximum extent,which is also the connotation of the policy of " fewer arrests,more careful prosecution,and more careful detention.The exploration of judicial practice for less arrest has accumulated some successful experience,but there is some resistance and difficulties in the process of implementing the criminal justice policy of less arrest,the current arrest system still has some outstanding problems that need to be further improved.On the institutional side,the current situation shows that the grounds for arrest are not clear enough,and the mechanism for comprehensive evaluation of the social dangerousness conditions for arrest is not well developed,as well as the low level of judicialization of the review and arrest process.In practice,the arrest rate and pretrial detention rate are still high,the scope of application of under-arrest and cautious prosecution cases is narrow,and the operation of arrest power emphasizes cooperation rather than control.The application of restrictions on the arrest system must be improved to ensure the smooth conduct of criminal proceedings and to maximize the protection of suspects and defendants from infringement of their legitimate rights and interests.On the basis of adhering to the principles of human rights protection,legal procedures and crimes,and proportionality,adjust and improve the judicial standards for "less arrests",clarify the scope of application for less arrests,improve the judicialization of the review and arrest procedures,improve alternative measures to detention such as bail pending trial,and adhere to the unity of legal and social effects.To improve the comprehensive assessment mechanism of the social dangerousness conditions of arrest,to grasp the social dangerousness of arrest cases,the situation of each case and other key points,to improve the relevant scientific and reasonable safeguards as well as to strengthen the coordination and cooperation of relevant units.It is expected to reasonably limit the application of arrest,reduce the conflict between power and right,and achieve to a greater extent the win-win situation of protecting human rights and punishing crimes,saving judicial resources and improving judicial efficiency.