On February 14, 2020, the Fengman District People's Court of Jilin City applied the expedited judgment procedure to open the trial and pronounced a verdict on the spot for a crime of obstructing public service during the epidemic, and the defendant Yu Moumou was sentenced to 8 months in prison. From the acceptance of the case to the pronouncement of the verdict in court, it took only 3 hours. Once this case was reported, it triggered everyone's discussion, does it not violate the relevant laws and regulations for the court to handle a criminal case in 3 hours? The answer is definitely not violation, because the expedited procedure is used. Recently, many criminal cases during the epidemic have applied this procedure, so today we will talk about what is the expedited judgment procedure.

As early as August 22, 2014, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the "Expedited Adjudication Procedure" notices". According to the Circular, courts, procuratorates and public security in 18 regions, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, will carry out a two-year pilot expedited adjudication procedure. On October 26, 2018, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the Decision on Amending the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, one of the major changes to the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China was the addition of expedited adjudication procedures to the ordinary and summary trial models.

What cases can be subject to expedited adjudication procedures?

According to Article 222 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, expedited adjudication procedures may apply to cases that meet the following three circumstances:

(1) The crime may be punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years;

(2) The facts of the case are clear and the evidence is indeed sufficient;

(3) The defendant admits guilt and accepts punishment and agrees to apply expedited judgment procedures.

Compared with the Pilot Work Measures, which limits the types of cases subject to expedited judgment procedures to 11 types of crimes that may be sentenced to less than one year's imprisonment, the scope of cases subject to expedited judgment procedures has been greatly expanded, and it can even be said that most criminal cases accepted by basic people's courts have been included in the scope of expedited judgment procedures.

Under what circumstances is the expedited adjudication procedure not applicable?

According to Article 223 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, expedited adjudication procedures shall not apply in any of the following circumstances:

(1) The defendant is blind, deaf, or mute, or a mentally ill person who has not completely lost the ability to recognize or control his or her own conduct;

(2) The defendant is a minor;

(3) The case has a major social impact;

(4) Where some defendants in joint criminal cases have objections to the facts of the alleged crime, the charges, the sentencing recommendations, or the application of expedited judgment procedures;

(5) Where the defendant and the victim or their legally-designated representatives have not reached a mediation or settlement agreement on matters such as incidental civil litigation compensation;

(6) Other cases where expedited judgment procedures are not appropriate.

How fast can the "expedited procedure" be?

Quick cut, quick cut, the word "speed" begins, therefore, short time and fast process are the biggest features of the application of this procedure. Speedy adjudication of cases is not only fast at the trial stage, but also at the stage of reviewing prosecutions.

Review of the prosecution stage:

According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, up to two times can be withdrawn from investigation, the time limit for review and prosecution must be recalculated each time after returning from investigation, so the review and prosecution stage of some cases takes six and a half months. Cases subject to expedited adjudication procedures can be quickly transferred from the procuratorate to the court for trial.

For example: Yin Moumou in Jiayu County, Hubei Province obstructed the prevention and control of infectious diseases. On February 10, the Jiayu County Public Security Bureau transferred the case for review and prosecution. On February 11, the Jiayu County People's Procuratorate prosecuted Yin for the crime of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

On February 10, the Renshou County Public Security Bureau transferred the case to the procuratorate for review and prosecution in the case of Wang obstructing official duties. On the same day, the Renshou County People's Procuratorate instituted a public prosecution for the crime of obstructing official duties, applying expedited trial procedures. On the morning of February 11, the Renshou County People's Court heard the case remotely and pronounced the verdict in court.

The above two cases were prosecuted in a very short period of time, and although they have the impact of a special period, even in ordinary times, the author has encountered cases that have completed the three stages of investigation, review and prosecution and trial in one month in the process of handling cases, which is indeed very rapid compared with ordinary procedures.

Trial Stage:

First of all, organize the trial quickly. In accordance with the provisions of Articles 222 and 224 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. First, the judge alone will try the trial, and the presiding judge will no longer need to coordinate with each other on the matters of forming a collegial panel. Second, the application of expedited judgment procedures to hear cases is not subject to the time limit for service stipulated in Section 1 of this Chapter, that is, the application of expedited judgment procedures to hear cases, the court no longer needs to be limited by the statutory time limit for service when serving copies of indictments, notice of hearing, and other litigation documents. As a result, the Court is able to organize sessions more quickly and flexibly.

Second, the trial is fast-paced. According to article 224 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, court investigations and court debates are generally not conducted in the application of expedited judgment procedures, but the opinions of the defender and the final statement of the defendant shall be heard before the judgment is pronounced. Where expedited judgment procedures are applied to hear cases, a judgment shall be pronounced in court. The presentation of evidence, cross-examination, and court arguments were omitted, and the judge only verified the authenticity of the defendant's guilty plea and punishment. As a result, the trial work of the prosecution and defense has been greatly reduced, and the trial efficiency has been improved. Most importantly, according to the law, "when applying the expedited judgment procedure to hear a case, the judgment shall be pronounced in court", which in fact means that the judge has basically completed the written hearing of the case before the trial and reached the trial conclusion.

Third, the trial period is short. According to Article 225 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, "the people's court shall conclude the trial within 10 days after accepting the case in the application of expedited judgment procedures; The possible sentence of fixed-term imprisonment exceeding one year may be extended to 15 days. The summary procedure requires a review limit of "20 days + up to one and a half months", which is "faster and faster" than the ordinary procedure. Defendants in minor criminal cases are sentenced in a relatively short period of time, which is conducive to the timely education and reform of criminals receiving criminal punishment. Especially in this special period, criminal acts are punished in a short period of time, which can play a stronger warning role for ordinary people.

From this point of view, returning to the case in Jilin City at the beginning, the case met the conditions for applying the expedited judgment procedure, and the judge only took 3 hours from the acceptance of the case to the pronouncement of the judgment in court, which was fully in line with the law.