The Supreme People's Court (SPC) Thursday required courts at all levels to eliminate confessions obtained through torture and other illegal methods in a bid to protect human rights and prevent wrongful convictions.
"Interrogation by torture, as well as the use of freezing, hunger, exposure to sunlight or heat, fatigue and other illegal methods to obtain a confession from the accused must be ruled out," the SPC said in a document released on its official Sina Weibo account, which was opened on Thursday in a move to enhance judicial transparency.
It is rare for judicial authorities to describe the torture often reported during police interrogations in such a vivid and specific way.
The document, a guideline on establishing and improving a mechanism to prevent wrongful convictions in criminal cases, followed calls in the reform blueprint released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on November 15, which vowed to deepen judicial reform to protect human rights and justice.
The guideline noted that the traditional concept and practice of confession being the most important evidence should be changed, and more attention should be paid to examining and using physical evidence. The courts cannot reach a guilty verdict if there is not enough evidence besides the offender's testimony, it said.
Torture has been a widespread concern in China as some public security officials used the practice to wrap up cases quickly through forced confession and it became the most common reason for wrongful convictions, said Chen Weiping, a professor with the law school of the Renmin University of China.
"The courts weigh the confession too heavily so that they may sidestep other evidence," Chen said.
For instance, the public was shocked by a 2010 case, in which Zhao Zuohai, a villager from Henan Province, had spent 10 years in prison for allegedly murdering a man who went missing but was found alive 12 years later. Consequently, three former police officers were arrested for allegedly torturing Zhao into confessing to a crime that never happened.
Mo Shaoping, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times that by clarifying the standards of torture and illegal methods to obtain confessions, the statement made it more practical for the courts to value confessions and gave a warning to other judicial organs to behave better when getting written testimony.
The SPC guideline also included details stipulating court procedures and the validity of testimonies and evidence, such as interrogation locations and the authentication of fingerprints, blood stains and hair.
A set of rules, jointly issued in 2010 by five governmental organs, made clear for the first time that evidence obtained through forced measures must be excluded, but with a relatively vague clarification about what forced measures actually meant.
Chen pointed out this document would help all levels of court staff to have a correct judicial concept and strengthen the rule of law.
The SPC also noted that cases involving a capital sentence must be dealt with by experienced judges with the adequate evidence to support the verdicts, which answered the CPC's call to reduce the death penalty step-by-step.
The SPC said courts must not yield to pressure from the media or "unreasonable petitioning by litigants."
The statement said that courts are forbidden to take part in investigations by police and prosecuting organs. Chen said that this move will ensure the independence and fair use of the judicial authority of the courts, as well as guaranteeing different organs supervise each other.
A Beijing-based judge, surnamed Li, said that it was common for judges to invite procurators to listen to their discussion about possible verdicts before trials. But he insisted that move won't influence final verdicts.
Xinhua contributed to this story