Provisions on People’s Procuratorates' Oversight of Residential Surveillance in a Designated Location

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Provisions on People’s Procuratorates' Oversight of Residential Surveillance in a Designated Location

Table of Contents

Chapter I: General Provisions

Chapter 2: Oversight of Decisions to Impose Designated-Location Residential Surveillance

Chapter 3: Oversight of the Implementation of Residential Surveillance in a Designated Location

Chapter IV: Supplemental Provisions

Provisinons on the Oversight of Residential Surveillance in a Designated Location by People’s Procuratorates

(Adopted at the 41st meeting of the 12th Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on October 13, 2015)

Chapter I: General Provisions

Article 1: In order to strengthen and standardize how people’s procuratorates carry out oversight regarding imposition and implementation of designated-location residential surveillance (DLRS), these regulations are hereby enacted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China" (CPL) and in consideration of the realities of procuratorial work.

Article 2: Where DLRS is used against criminal suspects or defendants by public security organs, people’s procuratorates, or people’s courts, people’s procuratorates shall carry out oversight in accordance with law as to the legality of imposition and implementation of DLRS.

Article 3: Oversight of decisions to impose DLRS is the responsibility of the investigation-oversight and prosecution departments of people’s procuratorates. Oversight of the enforcement of DLRS is the responsibility of the criminal enforcement procuratorial departments of people's procuratorates.

Article 4: Designated locations shall possess the conditions for ordinary life and rest and shall be separate from places of interrogation; they shall be equipped with surveillance equipment to facilitate monitoring and management; and they shall possess security measures to ensure the security of case handling.

Chapter 2: Oversight of Decisions to Impose Designated-Location Residential Surveillance

Article 5: Where a public security organ decides to impose DLRS on a criminal suspect who has no fixed residence, the investigation-oversight department of the people’s procuratorate at the same administrative level is to conduct oversight to determine whether that decision has been made lawfully.

Where a public security organ at a higher administrative level has approved a decision to place an individual suspected of endangering state security or terrorist activity under DLRS, the investigation-oversight unit of the people’s procuratorate at the same administrative level as the public security organ that issued approval is to conduct oversight as to whether that decision has been made lawfully.

Article 6: Where a people’s procuratorate decides to place a criminal suspect who has no fixed residence under DLRS, the investigation-oversight department of the people’s procuratorate at the level above is to conduct oversight as to whether that decision has been made lawfully.

Where a people’s procuratorate at a higher administrative level has approved a decision to place an individual suspected of serious corruption under DLRS, the investigation-oversight department of the people’s procuratorate that gave that approval is to conduct oversight as to whether that decision has been made lawfully.

Article 7: In any of the following situations, people’s procuratorate shall initiate oversight into whether a decision to impose DLRS is lawful:

(1) Criminal suspect or their legally-designated representatives, close relatives, or defenders feel that the decision to impose DLRS is in violation of the law and raise a complaint, report, or petition with the people’s procuratorate;

(2) A people’s procuratorate discovers that the investigating organ (department) may have issued a decision to impose DLRS in violation of the law, through its involvement in work such as investigation, review for arrest, review for indictment , inspection of criminal enforcement, or filing review;

(3) A people’s supervisor believes that a decision to impose DLRS is in violation of the law and files an oversight opinion with the people’s procuratorate;

(4) Other circumstances requiring initiation of oversight.

Article 8: Where initiating oversight of a people’s procuratorate's decision to place a criminal suspect who has no fixed residence under DLRS, the investigating department shall furnish the investigation-oversight department of the people’s procuratorate at the administrative level above with copies of the case-filing decision, the decision to impose DLRS, and principle evidence within three days. Where initiating oversight of a decision to place an individual suspected of especially large bribery under DLRS, the investigation department of the people’s procuratorate that approved the decision shall furnish the documents described above to its own investigation-oversight department within three days.

When a people’s procuratorate initiates oversight of a public security organ's decision to impose DLRS, it may request that the public security organ provide the documents described above.

Article 9: Oversight of decisions to impose DLRS may be carried out in the following ways:

(1) Review of the relevant case materials;

(2) Hearing the reasons and factual basis for the investigating organ's (department's) making a decision to impose DLRS;

(3) Hearing the opinions of criminal suspects or their legally-designated representatives, close relatives, or defenders;

(4) Other methods.

Article 10: People’s procuratorate's overseeing whether a decision to impose DLRS was lawful, shall review whether the decision meets the conditions for DLRS set out in Article 72 and paragraph 3 of Article 69 of the CPL, and further review whether the decision meets the following conditions:

(1) The criminal suspect has no fixed residence in the city or county where the case-handling organ is located;

(2) The public security organ or the people’s procuratorate at the level above has approved the decision to impose DLRS on an individual suspected of endangering state security, terrorist activity, or especially large bribery, where implementation of residential surveillance in his/her own residence would impede the investigation.

Article 11: The investigation-oversight departments of people’s procuratorate reviewing whether a decision to impose DLRS was lawful shall issue a decision within seven days.

Article 12: When, having carried out its review, the people’s procuratorate finds that the public security organ’s decision to impose DLRS does not meet the conditions set out by the law, it shall report those findings to the head of the procuratorate and, upon his or her approval, issue a rectification notice to the public security organ and recommend that the public security organ revoke its decision to impose DLRS.

Where the procuratorate finds that a decision to impose DLRS issued by itself or the procuratorate at the level below does not meet the conditions set out by the law, the investigation-oversight department of the people’s procuratorate shall report to the chief procurator and, upon his or her decision, notify its own investigating department, or the people’s procuratorate at the level below, to revoke the decision to impose DLRS. Where notifying the people’s procuratorate at the level below to revoke the decision to impose DLRS, the procuratorate shall also circulate a notice to its own investigations department.

Article 13: Upon receiving a corrective opinion from the people’s procuratorate at the level above, the lower level people’s procuratorate shall immediately enforce it out and report on the enforcement o the investigation-oversight department of the people’s procuratorate at the level above.

Where the lower level people’s procuratorate finds that the higher level people's procuratorate's corrective opinion regarding its decision to impose DLRS is in error, it may request a new review by the higher people’s procuratorate within three days of receiving the rectification opinion. The higher level people’s procuratorate shall appoint different procuratorate staff to review the case and issue a decision whether to amend its original opinion within five days.

Article 14: Oversight of decisions by the people’s procuratorate to impose DLRS during the review for indictment phase are to be enforced by the investigation-oversight department of the same people’s procuratorate in accordance with these provisions.

Oversight of decisions by people’s courts to impose DLRS are to be carried out by the prosecutorial department of the people’s procuratorate at the same level, in accordance with these provisions.

Chapter 3: Oversight of the Implementation of Residential Surveillance in a Designated Location

Article 15: Oversight of the implementation of DLRS is the responsibility of the criminal enforcement inspection department of the people’s procuratorate at the same level as the public security organ enforcing the DLRS.

Article 16: Oversight of DLRS implementation by people’s procuratorates shall include the following content:

(1) Whether legal documents, such as the DLRS decision and enforcement notice, are complete;

(2) Whether the place, term, and enforcement personnel comply with regulations;

(3) Whether the lawful rights of the person under residential surveillance are being protected;

(4) Whether there is any unlawful behavior, such as interrogation in the designated location, or corporal punishment or abuse of the person under residential surveillance;

(v) Other content that should be overseen in accordance with the law.

Article 17: When carrying out oversight of the implementation of DLRS, the people’s procuratorate may employ the following methods:

(1) Review of relevant legal documents; materials such as on the person under residential surveillance's meetings, correspondence, departures, and physical examination records;

(2) On-site inspection of whether the designated location complies with legal provisions;

(3) Review of materials such as relevant surveillance video footage, and, when necessary, conduct physical examination of the person under residential surveillance;

(4) Speak with the person under residential surveillance, enforcement personnel, case handling personnel, and other relevant personnel, to investigate and understand relevant circumstances.

Article 18: Within 24 hours of receiving a copy of a decision to impose DLRS from a public security organ or people’s court, the people’s procuratorate case management department shall forward the decision to its criminal enforcement inspections department.

When the investigation department or prosecution department of a people’s procuratorate issues a DLRS decision in the name of that procuratorate, it shall send a copy of the DLRS decision to its criminal enforcement inspection department within 24 hours, and notify it of the address of the designated location.

Article 19: Within 24 hours of receiving a copy of the DLRS decision, the criminal enforcement inspection department of the people’s procuratorate shall appoint procurators to carry out on-site inspections and complete a record of oversight inspection. Oversight of DLRS implementation shall be conducted through roving inspections, with at least 1 roving inspection a week by not less than 2 procuratorate personnel.

When inspecting of the DRLS implementation activities, the ordinary conduct of criminal investigations and case handling must not be impeded.

Article 20: Where people’s procuratorates overseeing DLRS implementation discover any of the following situations, they shall issue a corrective opinion to the enforcement or investigative organ in accordance with law:

(1) Failure of the enforcement organ to appoint enforcement personnel, or failure to promptly appoint enforcement personnel, after receipt of the DLRS decision, implementation notice, or other such legal documents;

(2) Except when it is impossible to provide notice, failure to notify the family of the person under residential surveillance within 24 hours of implementing DLRS;

(3) Implementation of residential surveillance in a detention center, administrative jail, prison, holding cell, case-handling area, or other location not meeting the statutory conditions for a designated location;

(4) Arranging meetings or correspondence between defense lawyers and the person under residential surveillance in violation of provisions, or illegally restricting the person under residential surveillance from meeting or corresponding with a defense lawyer;

(5) Where there is a change in procedural phase and the new case-handling organ should make a new decision on DLRS but does not promptly do so;

(6) Failure of the enforcement organ to promptly lift residential surveillance and notify the person under residential surveillance, when the case-handling department issues a decision to lift or modify DLRS and gives notice to the enforcing organ;

(7) Payment of expenses is requested from the person under residential surveillance or their family;

(8) Other illegal circumstances.

When the criminal enforcement inspectorate department of the people’s procuratorate discovers that the investigation or prosecutorial department of its own procuratorate has violated any of the above conditions, it shall issue a corrective opinion upon approval from the chief procurator.

Article 21: When the criminal enforcement inspection department of the people’s procuratorate finds problems such as irregularities in enforcement or security risks in the implementation of DLRS, it shall seek approval from the head of the procuratorate to issue a procuratorial recommendation to the enforcement or case-handling organ.

Article 22: Where a notice to correct illegality or procuratorial reccomendation is issued, a copy shall be sent to the procuratorate at the level above, and to the organ at the level above the enforcement or case-handling organ.

Article 23: Where a person under residential surveillance dies during DLRS, the case is to be handled with reference to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate inspection procedures for death of a person in custody in a detention facility.

Article 24: Where a people’s court or people’s procuratorate assigns judicial police officers to assist public security organs with implementation of DLRS, the criminal enforcement inspection department of the people’s procuratorate shall conduct oversight of those officers’ assistance with the implementation.

Chapter IV: Supplemental Provisions

Article 25: The people’s procuratorates shall promptly handle and respond to complaints, reports, or appeals regarding imposition or implementation of DLRS from criminal suspects or their legally-designated representatives, close relatives, or defenders.

Article 26: Where the investigation-oversight or prosecutorial department of a people’s procuratorate discovers the possibility of illegal circumstances in the implementation of DLRS, they shall promptly report to the criminal enforcement inspection department. Where the criminal enforcement inspection department discovers that a DLRS decision might be illegal, it shall report to the investigation-oversight or prosecutorial department.

Article 27: Where, during oversight of a DLRS decision or implementation, a people’s procuratorate discovers violations of discipline or law by case-handling or enforcement personnel, it shall promptly transfer the case to the appropriate department for handling after reporting to the chief procurator for a decision; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.

Article 28: Where there are violations of disciplinary or law by procuratorate personnel overseeing DLRS decisions or implementation, responsibility shall be pursued in accordance with the relevant provisions;where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.

Article 29: People’s procuratorate's oversight of DLRS decisions or implementation shall be handled on the procuratorate's unified operations application system. The case-management departments of people’s procuratorates shall conduct periodic statistical analysis and quality assessments, and promptly report the results to the relevant departments.

Article 30: These provisions become effective on the date of publication.