Overseeing criminal justice: The supervisory role of the public prosecution service in China

Mou, Yu

Abstract

© 2017 The Author. Journal of Law and Society and 2017 Cardiff University Law School. The Chinese public prosecution service, the procuracy, is modelled on the Soviet Union system and has been accorded the controversial function of supervising other legal institutions in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon my own empirical data on the prosecution of crime in China, this article critically examines the way the power of supervision operates from an internal perspective. It argues that the power of supervision has been used as an institutional asset to secure the interests of the procuracy by analysing its oversight of police investigations and court decisions, the way prosecutors perceive themselves, and the efficacy of the supervision in a comparative context. The current status of the procuracy dictates that it is unable to undertake the role of supervision to safeguard the criminal process.

Citation

Mou, Y. (2017). Overseeing criminal justice: The supervisory role of the public prosecution service in China. Journal of Law and Society, 44(4), 620-645. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12060

• Acceptance Date: May 3, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 28, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Deposit Date: May 15, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: May 29, 2018
• Journal: The journal of law and society
• Print ISSN: 0263-323x
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 620-645
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12060
• Keywords: Criminal justice; China; Public prosecution service; The People's Procuracy; Supervisory role
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/451376
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jols.12060/abstract
• Additional Information: This is a description of an article which has been accepted for future publication in: The journal of law and society. The article itself is not yet available for consultation.
• Contract Date: Dec 12, 2017