Social Status, Equal Treatment, and Pretrial Detention: Evidence from China and its Implications
The principle of equal treatment is fundamental to the fairness of any pretrial detention system, yet scholarship on this issue in the Chinese context is scarce. Based on 520 samples concerning pretrial decisions from one city court in China, this study reveals that the principle of equal treatment...
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| Contributors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
European journal on criminal policy and research
Year: 2021, Volume: 27, Issue: 2, Pages: 239-263 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | The principle of equal treatment is fundamental to the fairness of any pretrial detention system, yet scholarship on this issue in the Chinese context is scarce. Based on 520 samples concerning pretrial decisions from one city court in China, this study reveals that the principle of equal treatment was not well enforced in that particular pretrial context. Our statistical analysis shows that legal factors such as the seriousness of the crime, a defendant’s prior criminal record, and joint-crime status (i.e., several perpetrators commit a crime jointly), as well as some extra-legal demographic factors significantly influence pretrial decisions on release or detention. We added new variables of domicile, joint-crime, and the type of pretrial detention within the context of the Chinese system. This theoretical focus on contextual factors may be useful for similar European studies. |
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| ISSN: | 1572-9869 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10610-019-09421-7 |