On Feb 10, Hou Yahui, a member of the Procuratorial Committee and Director General of the Procuratorial Department for General Crimes at the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), detailed the department's supervision efforts over the past year during an interview, saying such efforts have been focused on integrating supervision with the legal process during handling the cases, thereby improving the quality and effectiveness of procuratorial oversight and enhancing the credibility of supervision.
It was highlighted at the national conference on criminal prosecution work, which was held on Nov 20, 2024 in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province, that efforts should be made to enhance the quality and credibility of supervision over criminal case filings and investigative activities. The Procuratorial Department for General Crimes of the SPP is mainly responsible for the implementation of this initiative.
"In collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, we formulated the Work Rules for the Office of Supervision and Coordination in Investigations, which set out requirements for the construction and standardized operation of the office in three aspects: standardizing the construction of the office, fully leveraging its role, and strictly implementing work rules," Hou said.
"Meanwhile, we issued guiding cases on the review of decisions not to arrest or prosecute, criminal prosecution standards, and supervision over case filing and investigative activities. We also organized a nationwide selection of outstanding cases in supervision over case filing and investigative activities, covering areas such as supervising case filing, transference between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, correcting omissions in arrests or prosecutions, rectifying illegal investigative evidence collection, addressing illegal seizures and freezes, and excluding illegal evidence. These efforts fully demonstrate the role of exemplary cases in guiding and encouraging local authorities to handle supervision cases effectively."
With regard to how to ensure the quality and effectiveness of supervision over investigative activities, Hou said that his department has been following up the changes in the data during the supervision process and produced specialized reports to guide future improvements.
"We require local procuratorial authorities to strengthen supervision over deep-seated and substantive law violations, such as illegal investigative evidence collection, illegal investigative measures, and illegal coercive measures," he said.
In addition, Hou said, the SPP has also worked to promote digital criminal prosecution work, and organized reporting and demonstration activities for big data-powered legal supervision models in prosecution for general crimes.
"Under the guidance of the SPP's Digital Prosecution Office, we have been promoting 25 big data legal supervision models nationwide and deploying special digital prosecution initiatives in eight provincial–level regions, including Beijing, Liaoning and Jiangsu. We have identified 28 municipal-level procuratorates and their subordinate grassroots procuratorates as demonstration areas for the initiatives," he said.
Hou also talked about how to continuously improve the custody review system. "We are currently studying and formulating guidelines for the review of the necessity of custody to ensure the effective implementation of the custody review system. We are guiding 39 pilot procuratorates nationwide to explore the establishment of a more scientific, objective, and efficient social hazard assessment system, in a bid to improve the system nationwide," he said.
