Chen Wu Reports on Confession of Crime and Punishment   　　

Leaders and department heads of the Anhui Provincial Procuratorate attended the group meeting as nonvoting delegates to listen to the deliberation opinions (the first group)  

Leaders and department heads of the Anhui Provincial Procuratorate attended the group meeting as nonvoting delegates to listen to the deliberation opinions (the second group)  

Leaders and department heads of the Anhui Provincial Procuratorate attended the group meeting as nonvoting delegates to listen to the deliberation opinions (the third group)  

Leaders and department heads of the Anhui Provincial Procuratorate attended the group meeting as nonvoting delegates to listen to the deliberation opinions (Group 4)  

　　 The amended Criminal Procedure Law in October 2018 formally established the system of pleading guilty and accepting punishment with leniency. How has the system been applied by the procuratorial organs since its implementation? On November 18, the second plenary meeting of the 30th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th People's Congress of Anhui Province heard the report of Chen Wu, the Procurator General of the Provincial Procuratorate, on the work of the provincial procuratorial organs in applying the system of confession, punishment and leniency. The report shows that, From the implementation of the system to June 2021, the procuratorial organs across the province applied the system of plea of guilty, admission of punishment and leniency to handle 81413 cases and 107668 persons in total, and the application of the system gradually became stable and mature 。  

　　 Chen Wu said in the report that, after more than two years of vigorous promotion, the application rate of the system of pleading guilty, pleading guilty and giving leniency to the provincial procuratorial organs has gradually increased from 31.99% in 2019 to 87.25% in June 2021; The adoption rate of sentencing suggestions will gradually increase from 80.91% in 2019 to 96.03% in June 2021; The appeal rate of pleading guilty and punishment cases has gradually decreased from 4.92% in 2019 to 4.02% in June 2021, and the application of the system has achieved positive results.  

　　 It is reported that the application of this system has shown four practical effects in Anhui.  

　　 First, it is conducive to promoting social harmony and stability.  

　　 "The implementation of the lenient system of pleading guilty, pleading guilty and punishing can promote more suspects and defendants to sincerely repent and resolve conflicts to the greatest extent. At the same time, it can urge suspects and defendants who have minor criminal circumstances and truthfully confessed and repented to their crimes to abandon evil and turn to good, reducing social opposition." The report shows that the appeal rate of defendants in first instance is 4.78% for cases handled by this system, 18.78 percentage points lower than other criminal cases. Since 2019, Anhui procuratorial organs have refused to approve the arrest of 5742 suspects and defendants after pleading guilty and accepting punishment, made 11866 relatively non prosecutions according to law, and proposed 33663 people to the courts to apply probation and sentencing. Among them, a total of 4218 minors were subject to the lenient system of pleading guilty and punishment, 452 were relatively not prosecuted according to law, and 637 were conditionally not prosecuted, helping minors to reform and better return to society.  

　　 Second, timely and effective punishment of crimes.  

　　 "The implementation of the lenient system of confession of guilt and punishment is conducive to the timely and efficient investigation of criminal facts by the judicial authorities." Chen Wu reported that, especially in the special fight against organized crime, the lenient system of confession of guilt and punishment is applied to all or part of criminal suspects and defendants in cases involving organized crime and evil, which can effectively break through the psychological defense line, disrupt the offensive and defensive alliance, and ensure thorough penetration. According to the data provided in the report, during the special struggle, Anhui procuratorial organs applied this system to 2784 criminal suspects and defendants involved in criminal syndicates and crimes, effectively improving the quality and efficiency of handling criminal syndicates and crimes.  

　　 Third, litigation efficiency has been significantly improved.  

　　 Since the implementation of this system, Anhui procuratorial organs have implemented the separation of complex and simple cases and specialized handling of similar cases, which has promoted the handling of difficult cases in a refined manner and simplified cases in a fast manner. According to statistics, since 2019, a total of 13838 cases have been completed within 15 days, effectively shortening the time limit for handling cases. At the same time, the provincial procuratorial organs applied the leniency system of pleading guilty, pleading guilty, and punishment. There were 34557 cases prosecuted to the people's courts for summary procedure trial, and 13106 cases for quick judgment procedure, respectively accounting for 56.31% and 21.36% of the criminal cases heard in the first instance of the same period. The "quick prosecution", "quick trial" and "quick judgment" of minor criminal cases effectively saved judicial resources.  

　　 Fourth, it will help procuratorial organs play an active role in serving the overall situation and promoting national governance.  

　　 The report pointed out that after the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, the procuratorial organs of Anhui Province strictly prosecuted and punished the crimes that seriously hindered the prevention and control of the epidemic, and actively applied this system to minor crimes, to educate and guide them to truthfully confess and repent. According to statistics, since 2020, 331 epidemic related cases have been subject to the leniency system of pleading guilty and accepting punishment, effectively maintaining the order of epidemic prevention and control. For the persons in charge of private enterprises suspected of committing crimes, the procuratorial organs conscientiously and meticulously did a good job of pleading guilty and accepting punishment, and implemented the criminal policy of "less arrests, more lawsuits, and more custody", which ensured the normal production and operation of enterprises to the maximum extent.  

　　 Chen Wu also reported to the meeting on the procuratorial organs' initiative to accept supervision and restriction and prevent the risk of judicial integrity. He said that in the process of promoting the application of the system of leniency in pleading guilty and punishment, Anhui procuratorial organs carefully listened to the opinions and suggestions of deputies to people's congresses at all levels. Since 2019, the procuratorial organ of the province has invited deputies to the National People's Congress to participate in 372 investigations and symposiums on confession and punishment, 971 public hearings for 1346 people and 209 court trials for 759 people 。 At the same time, relying on the case information disclosure system, the procedural information, important case information and legal documents of the cases of confession and punishment will be disclosed in a timely manner.  

　　 In addition, for cases where the victim does not agree to be lenient, has a certain social impact, and is closely related to the people's livelihood, such as pleading guilty and punishment, when making the decision not to approve arrest or prosecute, people from all walks of life are invited to conduct public hearings and listen to the opinions of all parties. Since 2019, the provincial procuratorial organs have held 1261 public hearings in handling cases of confession of guilt and punishment 。 At the same time, we actively accept the supervision of the people's supervisors, and pay attention to the opinions of the people's supervisors on the case facts, evidence identification and case handling during the public hearing, so as to truly "expose power and make justice visible".  

　　 On the same day, members of the Standing Committee of Anhui Provincial People's Congress also reviewed the special report in groups. Chen Wu said that the procuratorial organs in Anhui will earnestly implement the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era, and take the opportunity of implementing the deliberation opinions of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, Further give play to the leading role of the procuratorial organ in the work of leniency in pleading guilty and accepting punishment, find gaps, fill weaknesses, strengths and weaknesses, and work hard in the five aspects of "exhaustion", "standardized application", ability to perform duties, cooperation and cooperation, and restriction and supervision, to promote the leniency system in pleading guilty and accepting punishment with higher quality and better effect And make due contributions to building a harmonious society and making people feel fair and just in every judicial case.