Some 1,430,000 criminal verdicts at court of first instance were issued in 2022. Of those, 354 were not guilty judgments, the NGO Safeguard Defenders says.

  •  shanghaibebop   ( @shanghaibebop@beehaw.org ) 
    3•11 months ago

    The Japanese legal system is caught in a circular spiral of injustice, where the perception that prosecutors only bring charges if someone is guilty makes judges extremely unlikely to ever rule someone innocent.

    That’s exactly what I mean. Basically from the data, it’s difficult to tell if China’s model follows this type of approach.

    I agree, it’s a terrible system in Japan, but the Chinese judicial system has its own massive issues of an ineffective judicial system, and this data does not seem to give much of a context of why the prosecution conviction rates are so high.

    •  t3rmit3   ( @t3rmit3@beehaw.org ) 
      4•11 months ago

      My understanding of the Chinese criminal courts is that police refer “criminals” there, and the court tries them. It literally is a situation where if the court agrees to try you, you are (except for 0.3% of the cases) guilty. At least in Japan they note that 60% of cases are declined for prosecution entirely. I don’t get the impression that happens much in China without political connections.

      Also this is terrifying. China’s court AI reaches every corner of justice system, advising judges and streamlining punishment

      The system, powered by machine learning technology, automatically screens court cases for references, recommends laws and regulations, drafts legal documents and alters perceived human errors, if any, in a verdict.

      As required by the supreme court, a judge must consult AI on every case. If the judge rejects the machine’s recommendation, the machine demands a written explanation for records and auditing.

      Verdict enforcement has long been an issue for Chinese courts which have been deemed lacking in manpower. The court’s AI addresses it by finding and seizing the property of a convict almost instantly and putting it up for online auction.

      Its electronic reach allows the smart court to work with China’s powerful “social credit system” to ban a person refusing to pay a debt from using a plane, high speed train, hotels or other social services.

      •  shanghaibebop   ( @shanghaibebop@beehaw.org ) 
        1•11 months ago

        From the article,

        In 2022, the total number of cases dropped during prosecution rose to 26.28%

        So it does sounds like a significant portion of cases get dropped.

        Again I’m not an expert on either system, but what I do know is that the judicial system is in dire need of reform in China, but it doesn’t seem like it will happen anytime soon.