"Preface" [2013] ELECD 386; in McConville, Mike; Pils, Eva (eds), "Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) xvi

Book Title: Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China

Editor(s): McConville, Mike; Pils, Eva

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781955857

Section Title: Preface

Number of pages: 4

Extract:

Preface
When the contributions to this volume were written, not all contributors
were aware that a major revision of China's Criminal Procedure Law
would be passed in March 2012. Perhaps not even the eminent PRC schol-
ars who had participated in the drafting process could then have foretold
what lively and passionate public debate the publication of the law's draft
revision in September 2011 was to trigger.
There was a shared sense, however, of the timeliness and importance of
debating China's criminal justice system at this point. Most contributors
would probably have agreed that the criminal justice system was in need
of change. With the experience and foresight that come with half a century
of committed, distinguished and influential engagement with the law in
China, Jerome A. Cohen queried in his introductory reflections `whether
it is desirable to have another reform this year. The political atmosphere
is so conservative. Will the result of legislative change be favourable to
the protection of the accused? Will it benefit human rights? Or would the
changes be adverse?'
Reflection on how change might come about, what might promote
and what might hinder it, as well as structural impediments to genuine
improvement in the criminal justice process, have inspired many chapters
in this volume. Its structure reflects the main concerns arising in the crimi-
nal justice process at its various stages, embedded in what we believe to be
indispensable perspectives on the comparative and political dimensions of
criminal justice. Part I, including ...