RT Article
T1 Conflict or cooperation: An empirical study on the relationship between prosecution and adjudication behind China's "prosecutorial justice"
JF International journal of law, crime and justice
VO 83
SP 1
OP 13
A1 Zhou, Ghen
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1945027657
AB Following the institutionalization of China’s plea for leniency system in the 2018 Criminal Procedure Law, the balance of power between prosecutors and judges has shifted significantly, giving rise to an emerging trend of “prosecutorial justice”. This article examines how prosecutorial sentencing recommendations have redefined the dynamics between prosecutors and judges. Drawing on over 80 in-depth interviews with frontline prosecutors and criminal judges, it finds that while the reform formally strengthened the binding nature of prosecutorial sentencing recommendations and restricted judicial discretion, its implementation reveals a more complex reality. Under pressure from performance evaluations and demands for efficiency, prosecutors and judges often engage in informal pretrial consultations to facilitate the adoption of sentencing recommendations and accelerate case resolution. This cooperative model alleviates tensions over sentencing authority and departs from the traditionally adversarial relationship between prosecution and adjudication. However, this performance-oriented collaboration in sentencing raises deeper institutional concerns, as the erosion of clearly defined boundaries between prosecutorial and judicial functions may substantially compromise procedural safeguards and infringe upon the fundamental rights of the accused.
K1 Plea for leniency
K1 Prosecutorial sentencing recommendation
K1 Judicial-prosecutorial relationship
K1 “Prosecutorial justice”
DO 10.1016/j.ijlcj.2025.100796