Plea Leniency System

Overview Commentary:

A Plea for Greater Reform and Engagement:

This article uses the introduction of China's plea leniency system, inspired by the US plea bargaining system, as a starting place for discussing the importance of 'engagement' between Chinese and foreign legal scholars more generally.

Open to negotiation? A review of China's Abridged Criminal Procedures

An overview of abridged procedure pilots in Chinese criminal cases, including how they are, and aren't like plea bargaining.

Plea Leniency Pilot Overview

A good overview of the plea leniency system in general, with a deep dive into specifics of local pilots.

Midterm Report on Plea Leniency Pilots. [CORRECTED]

Midterm Report on Plea Leniency Pilots. [CORRECTED]

A bargain at twice the speed：

A discussion of simplified procedures in Chinese criminal procedure.

【Translation Note：Throughout these translations we interchangeably use either the literal ‘admit guilt and accept punishment’ or ‘plea’ for the Chinese 认罪认罚从宽 is translated as leniency, so that the 认罪认罚从宽制度 is the ‘plea leniency system’ etc. This is solely to avoid excessively awkward language, as translations are awkward enough.]

TRANSLATIONs

National Provisions

• NPCSC Decision Authorizing the SPC and SPP to Carry Out Pilot Projects on the System of Leniency for Those who Admit Guilt and Accept Punishment
• Notice of the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, and Ministry of Justice on the release of "Measures for Pilot Project Work in Some Cities on the System of Leniency for Those Who Admit Guilt and Accept Punishment in Criminal Cases."
• Guiding Opinions on the Use of the Plea Leniency System
• People's Procuratorate Measures on the Oversight and Management of the Handling of Plea Leniency Cases
• Provisions on Simultaneous Recording in Hearing Opinions in Plea Leniency Cases

Some of the Documents in the Table Below are Password Protected. This is Because those Documents Have Not been Publicly Released.

Plea Leniency Pilot Region Implementation Measures