Case Concerning Parole Supervision of Prisoner Yang XX
(SPP Guiding Case No. 196)
Key words
Scope of ineligibility for parole; Proactive performance of duties; Risk of recidivism; Raising minor children
Summary
Where the people's procuratorates, in the course of routinely performing supervisory duties, discover that a prisoner meets the statutory conditions for parole but has not been recommended for parole, they shall, in accordance with the law, recommend that the sentence execution authority initiate the parole recommendation procedure. The scope of ineligibility for parole shall be accurately understood; prisoners convicted of serious violent crimes, such as intentional homicide, who have not been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of ten years or more or life imprisonment and are not recidivists, do not fall within the scope of ineligibility for parole. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the prisoner's subjective culpability and actual conduct during incarceration, an opinion recommending parole may be issued in accordance with the law if the conditions are met. Emphasis should be placed on implementing the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy. For prisoners with special circumstances, such as a genuine need to raise minor children while the spouse is concurrently serving a sentence, a recommendation for lenient application of parole may be made in accordance with the law.
Relevant provisions
Articles 81 and 82 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 262 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (Rev. 2012) (now Article 273 in Rev. 2018)
Articles 22, 23, 25, and 26 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Specific Application of Law in Handling Commutation and Parole Cases
Article 9 of the Provisions on the Handling of Commutation and Parole Cases by the People's Procuratorates
