Author:ZHUHAO WANG

ABSTRACT 

Having witnesses testifying at trial is a fundamental component of any modern judicatory system. In criminal litigations, generally speaking, testifying and being cross-examined at courtroom as a witness are one’s civil duty and being considered as one of the most effective ways to determine case facts. Even though Chinese laws and regulations, in particular the China Criminal Procedural Law, stipulate witnesses’ general responsibility to testify at trial and corresponding supporting measures, in reality, the appearance rate of witnesses testifying at criminal trials in China has been consistently extremely low for a long time. On the other hand, it is quite common in China that witnesses make written testimony at police stations or to procurators during pre-trial stages. Thus, often the evidence Chinese judges heavily rely upon in adjudicating criminal cases is some written-formed witness testimony made before trial. Such approach not only causes detriment to procedural due process of criminal trials, but also puts China’s ongoing judicial reform into jeopardy. In particular, whether witnesses testify at trial as norm is critical to the enduring campaign of China trial mode transforming from a typical inquisitorial system into a more adversarial system. Based on field studies conducted in ten pilot courts across the country underneath an on-going national research project led a vice chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of China, the author in this paper presents eight major causes for Chinese witnesses not showing up to testify before the judge in criminal trials.

Network address：http://www.bu.edu/ilj/files/2015/03/Zhuhao-WANG_WHY-CHINESE-WITNESSES-DO...