The Research Office of the Supreme People's Court, the Legal Policy Research Office of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security,
The person in charge of the Rule of Law Office of the Ministry of State Security answered reporters' questions on the "Regulations on Several Issues Concerning Release on Bail Pending Trial"
On September 21, 2022, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of State Security jointly issued the "Regulations on Several Issues Concerning Release on Bail Pending Trial" (Gong Tong Zi [2022] No. 25, hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").
In order to facilitate the accurate understanding and application of judicial practice, the relevant persons in charge of the Research Office of the Supreme People's Court, the Legal Policy Research Office of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, and the Office of the Rule of Law of the Ministry of State Security were interviewed.
Q: Please introduce the background and main process of the formulation of the Regulations.
Answer:
Release on bail pending trial is an important non-custodial compulsory measure in criminal proceedings. The application of release on bail pending trial in accordance with the law is of great significance for respecting and protecting human rights, saving judicial resources, and ensuring the smooth progress of criminal proceedings.
In 1999, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of State Security formulated the "Regulations on Several Issues Concerning Release on Bail Pending Trial" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations" in 1999) to comprehensively regulate the work of releasing on bail pending trial.
In recent years, with the continuous development of the economy and society and the continuous advancement of the construction of the rule of law, the people have put forward higher demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, etc., and my country's criminal policy and judicial concept of the detention system have undergone great changes. , the Criminal Procedure Law, the Public Procuratorate Law and the supporting provisions for the implementation of the Criminal Procedure Law by state security agencies have successively revised the relevant system of release on bail pending further trial, and the criminal structure and punishment have been gradually eased in judicial practice.
In view of this, in order to implement Xi Jinping's thought on the rule of law, fully reflect the criminal policy of combining leniency with strictness and the criminal justice policy of reducing arrests and prudent prosecution and prudence, and to further standardize the work of release on bail pending trial, the Ministry of Public Security, together with the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of State Security, are conducting a thorough investigation. On the basis of the demonstration, the 1999 "Regulations" have been comprehensively revised according to the existing laws and relevant regulations.
The "Regulations" have six chapters and forty articles in total, which stipulate the general provisions, decision, implementation, modification, cancellation, responsibility, etc. of release on bail, so as to facilitate the understanding and grasp of judicial organs, and to better ensure the smooth progress of criminal proceedings and the parties concerned. legitimate interests.
Q: How does the "Regulations" reflect fewer arrests, prudent prosecution and prudence, and protect the rights of criminal suspects and defendants?
A:
Respecting and protecting human rights is an important principle established by the Constitution of our country. The "tasks of the Criminal Procedure Law" stipulated in Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law also includes respecting and safeguarding human rights and protecting the personal rights and property rights of citizens.
Fewer arrests and prudent prosecutions and prudence are the concrete implementation of the criminal policy of combining leniency with strictness, requiring case-handling agencies to apply various coercive measures in accordance with the law and accurately.
The "Regulations" mainly reflect the above requirements in the following aspects: First, to further clarify the objects who should be released on bail pending further investigation.
The "Regulations" emphasize that release on bail pending further investigation should be applied in accordance with the law for criminal suspects whose release on bail is sufficient to prevent social danger.
The second is to make it clear that the release on bail pending trial can be carried out at the temporary residence of the person released on bail.
In response to economic and social development, the increase in population mobility, and the crime of migrants, the "Regulations" make it clear that a person released on bail awaiting trial has left the place of residence for more than one year and has no habitual place of residence, but has a fixed place of residence in the place of temporary residence. Execute bail pending trial.
The third is to clarify the standards of "serious illness" and "being unable to take care of themselves".
In response to the non-standard application and dare not apply the "serious illness" and "inability to take care of life" in Article 67 of the Criminal Procedure Law in practice, the "Regulations" clearly refer to the "Severe Medical Parole" issued by the Supreme People's Court and other departments. "Scope of Diseases" and "Criteria for Identification of Criminals who cannot take care of themselves" are implemented, which is convenient for practice.
The fourth is to simplify the approval procedures for those who are released on bail to apply for leaving their place of residence.
The "Regulations" make it clear that for regular cross-city and county activities due to normal work and life, the approval procedure may be simplified according to the situation, which is conducive to the effective supervision of the person released on bail, while minimizing their normal work and impact on life.
The fifth is to provide a convenient way for the refund of the security deposit.
In practice, after the release of bail pending further trial, the person who was released on bail pending further trial is inconvenient to receive the refunded security deposit due to various reasons.
In order to make it more convenient to return the security deposit of the person released on bail pending further investigation, the "Regulations" propose that after a written application is issued by the person, the public security organ may notify the bank in writing to transfer the security deposit to fully protect the property rights of the parties.
Q: Regarding the improvement of the implementation and supervision system of release on bail pending further investigation, what optimizations have the "Regulations" made compared to the 1999 "Regulations"?
Answer:
In order to strengthen the supervision and management of the persons released on bail pending further investigation and prevent the occurrence of problems of being out of control and leakage, the "Regulations" mainly put forward the following measures: First, clarify the scope of activities of the persons released on bail pending further investigation.
In light of the actual needs of supervision, the "Regulations" respectively refine the scope of "specific places", "specific persons" and "specific activities" in Article 71 of the Criminal Procedure Law, which is conducive to the understanding of the enforcement organs. It is also helpful for the person released on bail to clearly know the scope of their activities.
The second is to clarify the obligation to report the person released on bail pending further investigation when the implementation of the bail pending trial in another place.
The "Regulations" require that for the execution of release on bail pending further investigation in a different place, the person released on bail pending further investigation shall report to the enforcement agency within five days after receiving the decision on release on bail pending further investigation. Measures to ensure that those released on bail are reported on time and subject to supervision in accordance with the law.
The third is to refine the penalties for violations of those released on bail pending trial.
Chapter 5 of the "Regulations" stipulates the punishment for violating the relevant provisions on release on bail pending further investigation, and further clarifies the conditions and procedures for measures such as confiscation of security deposits, fines on guarantors, public security management penalties, and arrests, so as to ensure the implementation of relevant provisions on release on bail pending further investigation.
Q: Why does the "Regulations" specifically provide for the implementation of the decision of the people's court and the people's procuratorate to release on bail pending further trial? How is it specified?
Answer:
"Criminal Procedure Law" stipulates that the decision of the people's court and the people's procuratorate to release on bail pending trial shall be executed by the public security organ.
However, the 1999 "Regulations" did not specify the specific implementation of the public security organs, which led to the impact of related work.
In response to this problem, in order to further smooth the delivery of documents and the implementation of delivery procedures, the "Regulations" clarified that if the people's court or the people's procuratorate decides to release on bail pending further investigation, the decision on bail pending further investigation, the enforcement notice for bail pending further investigation and other relevant materials shall be sent together It shall be handed over to the local public security organ at the same level, and the public security organ at the same level shall deliver it for execution in accordance with relevant regulations.
At the same time, in order to improve judicial efficiency, it is also stipulated that the people's courts and the people's procuratorates can electronically send legal documents and relevant materials to the public security organs.
In addition, considering that some people's courts do not correspond to public security organs at the same level, the "Regulations" further clarify that if there is no public security organ at the same level in the locality, the provincial public security organ, in conjunction with the people's court and the people's procuratorate at the same level, determine the relevant public security organ to be responsible for enforcement. And establish a related work linkage mechanism.
Q: In the next step, what measures will be taken to ensure the accurate implementation of the Regulations?
Answer:
The "Regulations" are the specificization of the relevant provisions of the "Criminal Procedure Law" on release on bail pending further investigation. Because it extensively involves the personal and property rights of citizens and the work connection between various departments, it is an important normative document for the public security organs and national security organs.
In order to effectively implement the "Regulations", we will focus on the following work in the next step: First, strengthen learning and training.
By holding special lectures, in-class training and other forms, the revised "Regulations" should be taken as the key content of various trainings, so as to ensure that the public security organs at all levels and national security agencies can fully grasp, accurately understand, and apply according to law, and improve the law-based crackdown. crime, the ability to protect human rights.
The second is to improve the working mechanism.
Guide local public security, procuratorate and national security agencies to continuously improve and refine various working mechanisms, strengthen law enforcement guidelines, clarify the responsibilities and authorities of various departments, strengthen communication between departments, and open up the "last mile" of the connection between the release of bail pending trial work.
The third is to strengthen supervision and guidance.
After the issuance of the "Regulations", we will strengthen the supervision and guidance on the application of release on bail measures by local public security organs and national security agencies, and further standardize law enforcement and judicial behavior. Ensure that the measures for release on bail pending trial are fully and accurately implemented.