NCJ Number
157429
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1994) Pages: 41-60
Date Published
1994
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Pretrial detention for preventive and investigative purposes for up to 3 months is common not only in China but also in Western countries; at issue, however, is whether an institutional remedial process is available to persons whose interests are adversely affected.
Abstract
In China, police have wide detention powers outside the criminal process. The most controversial police power to detain is the Shourong Shencha, or shelter for examination (SE). This form of preventive and investigative detention allows police to detain some suspects for up to 3 months without judicial review. The SE has been justified on the grounds that crime has become a serious social problem in China and drastic measures such as the SE are necessary to maintain political stability in a period of social change. The key issue is whether an institutional remedial process is available to persons whose interests are adversely affected, and the lack of such an institutional remedial process in China makes the SE substantially and procedurally unfair. In essence, the SE violates constitutionally guaranteed rights and represents a blatant abuse of the criminal justice process. The only alternative is to dismantle the SE and replace it with a judicially sanctioned pretrial detention system. Police power in China is examined in relation to uses and abuses of the SE, the power to detain and arrest, the Security Administration Punishment Act, the administrative penalty known as Re-Education Through Labor, judicial review under the Administrative Litigation Law, and police response to judicial review. 28 references and 20 endnotes