I. Background Introduction

On March 10, 2020, the Supreme People's Court released the first batch of 10 typical cases of crimes endangering the prevention and control of the epidemic punished according to law, and introduced the relevant situation. As of March 4, the people's courts had used summary procedures and simplified procedures to hear 51.66% and 40.53% of criminal cases hindering epidemic prevention and control, respectively. Courts in various regions carried out online litigation activities, and 59.3% of the cases were heard by video conference. "The national courts have given full play to the functions of criminal trials, strictly handled cases in accordance with the law, accurately grasped policies, and promptly and severely punished a number of criminals who hindered epidemic prevention and control, effectively safeguarding the lives and health of the people and the overall social stability, and providing strong judicial guarantees for resolutely winning the battle to prevent and control the epidemic." The person in charge of the Criminal Division 1 of the Supreme People's Court answered reporters' questions on typical cases of punishing crimes endangering epidemic prevention and control in accordance with the law.

The person in charge also introduced: "The epidemic situation is developing and changing rapidly, and the task of prevention and control is heavy, which brings many new problems and challenges to criminal trial work, and the time is tight and the task is heavy. Criminal trials must be timely and must be handled strictly in accordance with the law. In the previous period, most of the criminal cases of hindering epidemic prevention and control heard by courts in various regions were relatively simple and clear cases with lighter sentences. In accordance with the principle of quick trial of simple cases and careful trial of doubtful cases, many cases were tried using summary procedures or simplified procedures, especially cases in which the defendant pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, which improved trial efficiency. The people's courts apply summary procedures or simplified procedures, strictly in accordance with the legal provisions on summary procedures or simplified procedures, protect the various litigation rights of the defendant in accordance with the law, simplify procedures but do not reduce rights. Cases that do not meet the conditions for applying summary procedures or simplified procedures must be tried in accordance with ordinary procedures."

From the above introduction, we can see that during the epidemic, a considerable number of criminal cases were tried using summary procedures. Readers may also remember that during this period, there were frequent news reports of criminal suspects who evaded epidemic inspections or attacked epidemic inspection checkpoints being sentenced to corresponding penalties by the people's courts within a few days. These cases applied the criminal summary procedure. So, what is the criminal summary procedure, how should the criminal summary procedure be applied during the epidemic, and what issues should be paid attention to in the application? This article will discuss this in the following pages.

II. Introduction to the "Criminal Summary Procedure"

On June 27, 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the "Decision on Authorizing the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to Carry Out Pilot Work on Summary Procedures for Criminal Cases in Some Areas", and piloted the summary procedure in addition to the ordinary procedure and simplified procedure stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law. The revised "Criminal Procedure Law" in 2018 officially added the provisions of the summary procedure. Article 222 stipulates: "For cases under the jurisdiction of the basic people's courts that may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, the facts of the case are clear, the evidence is reliable and sufficient, and the defendant pleads guilty and accepts punishment and agrees to apply the summary procedure, the summary procedure may be applied, and the trial shall be conducted by a single judge. When the people's procuratorate files a public prosecution, it may suggest that the people's court apply the summary procedure." Article 223 also stipulates the circumstances under which the summary procedure does not apply.

The trial of cases using the summary procedure is not subject to the time limit for service stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law, and generally no court investigation or court debate is conducted, but the opinions of the defender and the final statement of the defendant shall be heard before the judgment is pronounced. Cases tried using the summary procedure shall be pronounced in court. Regarding the trial period, for cases tried using the summary procedure, the people's court shall conclude the trial within ten days after acceptance; if the possible fixed-term imprisonment exceeds one year, it may be extended to fifteen days.

III. Necessity of Applying Criminal Summary Procedure During the Epidemic

(I) It is necessary to adhere to the unity of the legal effect and social effect of the judgment. During the epidemic, some social instability factors have increased. At this time, people need to see social stability and peaceful life. The application of summary procedures during the epidemic enables state organs such as public security, procuratorate, and law to respond quickly to criminal acts that disrupt social stability and accurately crack down on acts that violate the epidemic prevention orders and measures of governments at all levels, which helps to enhance people's sense of security and strengthen their confidence in the fight against the epidemic.

(II) It is necessary to improve the efficiency of handling cases. Some criminal acts that occurred during the epidemic are certainly hateful, but returning to the criminal law, they are only minor crimes of less than three years, such as evading epidemic inspections, attacking epidemic prevention checkpoints, and obstructing law enforcement by relevant personnel, as mentioned in the previous article. For these criminal acts, if they are all tried in accordance with ordinary procedures, the handling cycle of minor criminal cases is similar to that of complex cases, which is not conducive to the rational allocation of judicial resources and will cause a great waste of judicial resources. The quick handling procedure for minor criminal cases can flexibly carry out document service, no debate or investigation may be conducted during the court session, and the trial is conducted by a single judge. The time for judicial organs to hear cases is greatly shortened, which is conducive to judicial organs concentrating their energy and resources to handle complex, difficult, and major cases, and can improve the quality of case handling and judicial justice as a whole.

(III) It is necessary to protect the human rights of criminal defendants. On the one hand, the summary procedure greatly reduces the detention time of defendants in the process of handling cases, and also correspondingly reduces their chances of contact with other personnel, preventing possible cross-infection of viruses. On the other hand, defendants in the summary procedure plead guilty and accept punishment, and may be given a lighter criminal punishment in accordance with the law, allowing them to accept reform as soon as possible and return to society in a timely manner, which is conducive to achieving the purpose of punishment and can effectively prevent crime. At the same time, some cases applying the summary procedure can reach or basically reach a civil settlement in the early stage of the trial, which speeds up the resolution of disputes between the victims and the defendants and effectively resolves the existing social contradictions.

IV. Issues That Should Be Paid Attention to When Applying Criminal Summary Procedure During the Epidemic

(I) The evidence standards for criminal cases should be strictly observed. Although the summary procedure simplifies the process, it does not mean that the corresponding evidence standards for criminal cases can be lowered. From the "Pilot Measures for Summary Procedures" in 2014 to the "Pilot Measures for Pleading Guilty and Accepting Punishment" in 2016, to the newly revised "Criminal Procedure Law" in 2018, it is clearly stipulated that one of the conditions for the application of the summary procedure is that "the facts of the case are clear and the evidence is reliable and sufficient", which has always been the case. However, conversely, although the summary procedure does not change the standard of proof, it can encourage the defendant to plead guilty and accept punishment, truthfully confess his crimes, and facilitate the collection of concealed evidence that is difficult to collect without the defendant's confession, and timely collect evidence that is easy to lose without the defendant's confession, thereby forming a complete chain of evidence and proof system, so as to effectively solve the problem of the standard of proof.

(II) The defendant's right to know should be guaranteed. The criminal summary procedure has a short time and a relatively simplified procedure, and the reduction of contact between case handlers and the defendant during the epidemic will have an impact on the defendant's right to know. The lack of victims' participation rights and right to know in the litigation process makes it difficult for victims to perceive justice and fairness in the litigation process, which has a negative impact on the harmony and stability of social order. At this time, the case-handling agency should pay attention to informing the defendant of the due litigation rights in a timely manner, including whether to agree to apply the summary procedure, the consequences of pleading guilty and accepting punishment, and so on.

(III) The right of the defendant to retain a defender shall be guaranteed. The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice clearly stated in the "Opinions on依法惩治妨害新型冠状病毒感染肺炎疫情防控违法犯罪的意见": "We must protect the litigation rights of criminal suspects and defendants in accordance with the law, especially the right to defense. In accordance with the requirements of full legal representation in criminal cases, we will actively organize lawyers to provide defense or legal assistance to defendants who have not retained a defender in accordance with the law." Therefore, although the summary procedure is short and simplified, it is also necessary to protect the defendant's right to retain a defender. Furthermore, without violating epidemic prevention orders, the lawyer's right to meet with the defendant and review the case file should also be guaranteed, so that the lawyer can exercise the right of defense in accordance with the law.