99% of all people indicted for anything get convicted in China.
This is a statistic shared on an article at NPR in 2024, very similar to ones ones reported by reuters(99.97%, 2022) and other sources, and it brings up an obvious conclusion: China’s “justice” system is nothing short of a nightmare.
No matter the amount of money invested in their surveillance systems, no matter how honest the population may be, no matter the amount of effort put in all parts involved, no human controlled system would be correct that often.
There are several innocents being convicted on a daily and the CCP is, yet again, hiding what it is ashamed of under the rug.
Lack of Judicial Independence
The most fundamental problem is that the judiciary is not independent. The Chinese Constitution upholds the leadership of the Communist Party over the law.
- Political Obedience: Judges are expected to adhere to the “Three Supremes” doctrine: supremacy of the Party’s cause, supremacy of the people’s interests, and supremacy of the constitution—in that order.
- Party Control: Local Party officials often control court funding and judicial appointments, making it nearly impossible for judges to rule against the state or local interests.
Forced Confessions and Torture
Despite legal reforms prohibiting torture, reliance on confession remains central to police investigations.
- “Black Jails” (RSDL): A major issue is “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location” (RSDL). This allows police to hold suspects incommunicado in secret locations for up to six months without access to lawyers or family. It is during this period that torture and coerced confessions frequently occur.
- Tiger Chairs: Human rights groups report the use of “tiger chairs” (prolonged restraint), sleep deprivation, and denial of medical care to force confessions which are then used as the primary evidence in court.
Denial of Due Process and Access to Counsel
While Chinese law guarantees the right to a lawyer, in practice, this right is frequently blocked in “politically sensitive” cases.
- Blocking Lawyers: Police often deny lawyers access to their clients by claiming the case involves “state secrets” or by requiring permission that is never granted.
- Harassment of Defense Attorneys: Human rights lawyers who vigorously defend their clients are often stripped of their licenses, harassed, or even arrested themselves (e.g., the “709 Crackdown” of 2015).
The list goes on
- Psychiatric Abuse, The “Ankang” System: China operates a network of high-security psychiatric hospitals known as Ankang (meaning “Peace and Health”) run by the police, not health authorities. Police can unilaterally commit individuals to these facilities without a trial or medical diagnosis from an independent doctor. This is often used against petitioners (citizens who complain about local government corruption) or dissidents.
- Cross-Border Repression, “Operation Fox Hunt”: The justice system frequently reaches beyond China’s borders to coerce “fugitives” (often economic criminals, but sometimes dissidents) to return home, bypassing legal extradition channels.
- The “Social Credit” Blacklist (The Laolai): If a court deems you have failed to fulfill a judgment (e.g., paying a fine or apologizing), you are placed on a blacklist. You are not jailed, but you are socially “deleted.” You are banned from buying plane or high-speed train tickets, staying in hotels, taking out loans, or even sending your children to private schools. Millions of Chinese citizens are currently on this list, effectively under house arrest.
Source: NPR, Reuters, Wikipedia, CECC, Amnesty, Amnesty, safeguarddefenders, U.S. Justice, brooklynworks
