Tong Jianming, First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) of China, led a delegation to the 29th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from Sept 29 to Oct 2. Tong made a keynote speech titled "China's Practice in Balancing the Three Pillars of the Criminal Justice System" at the conference.
Tong congratulated the successful convening of the conference on behalf of China's SPP and China's Prosecutor General Ying Yong.
In his speech, he briefed China's efforts in continuously deepening reform of the judicial and litigation systems and its proactive explorations in balancing prosecution, defense and trial as the three pillars of the criminal justice system under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law.
Tong emphasized China's focus on strengthening the judicial accountability system and enhancing the principal role of judges and prosecutors in case handling while advancing the reform of judicial system.
Judges and prosecutors are held accountable for the quality of cases within their respective scopes of responsibility throughout their careers, and the system of judicial accountability for miscarriages of justice is strictly implemented, he said, adding that a judicial power operation mechanism with unified and clearly defined authority and responsibility as well as orderly management has been established in China.
Tong said that China has also been advancing reform in criminal litigation system with a core on evidence-based judgments. The country has fully carried out the principles of evidence-based judgments and substantive court hearings, and taken concrete measures to safeguard the fairness and authority of adjudication by improving procedures for pretrial conferences, standardizing court investigation procedures and enhancing court debate rules, he said.
In building an evidence-centered criminal prosecution system, Tong highlighted that the Chinese procuratorial authorities uphold an objective and impartial stance, continuously improve evidence examination mechanisms, enhance collaboration with public security authorities for investigation supervision, and refine supplementary investigation mechanisms during the review and prosecution processes, effectively improving the efficiency and quality of handling criminal cases.
China is vigorously advancing full coverage of lawyers' defense in criminal cases, ensuring that defense lawyers enjoy all the rights they are entitled to in criminal proceedings. The reform of China's judicial system will continue to steadily advance along the path towards greater fairness and efficiency, he said.
Noting that criminal justice and procuratorial systems vary among countries, Tong highlighted the consistency of their mission and responsibility in punishing crimes, respecting and safeguarding human rights, upholding judicial fairness, and promoting social justice and equality.
Chinese procuratorial authorities are willing to strengthen exchanges, mutual learning and judicial cooperation with all parties present at the conference to contribute to the prosperity of global civilization of the rule of law, he said.
During interactive sessions, Tong responded to questions regarding China's systems and measures to prevent leading officials from interfering in judicial activities and specific case handling to ensure that judicial authorities exercise their powers independently and impartially in accordance with the law.
On the sidelines of the conference, Tong held meetings separately with other participants, including Juan Bautista Mahiques, President of the IAP Executive Committee and Attorney General of the Public Prosecution Service of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Kamran Aliyev, Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan; Shamila Batohi, National Director of Public Prosecutions of South Africa; Lucien Wong, Attorney-General of Singapore; Park Sung-min, Chief Prosecutor of the Ulsan District Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Korea; Stephen Parkinson, Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service of the United Kingdom; and Ramesh Badal, Attorney General of Nepal.
Prior to the conference, Tong visited the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, Egypt's Public Prosecution Service, as well as the Cairo Economic Court and the Cairo Court of Appeal upon invitation.
Chen Fengchao, Chief Prosecutor of Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate, and Ding Shunsheng, Chief Prosecutor of Jiangxi Provincial People's Procuratorate, attended the activities along with Tong.
The four-day conference, hosted by the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan, was attended by more than 400 delegates from over 90 countries and regions.
