HANGZHOU, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Litigation efficiency in east China's city of Hangzhou has significantly improved a year after the city adopted plea bargaining in criminal cases.
According to the local judicial department, the average litigation period has been shortened from several weeks to just five days, and the trial process has been reduced to no more than 30 minutes as of November, thanks to streamlined and concentrated prosecution, court hearing and sentencing.
In 2016, the top legislature approved a pilot program to allow suspects to plead guilty in return for a lesser charge in 18 Chinese cities, including Hangzhou and Xiamen.
The number of criminal cases filed in Hangzhou has exceeded 80,000 every year over the past five years, meaning each judge must settle more than 290 cases every year.
"Plea bargaining has enabled more reasonable allocation of judicial resources and relieved the pressure of judicial officials," said Lou Minxiong from the city's commission of politics and law.
A defendant surnamed Chen was caught selling a small bag of methamphetamine at a bus station. He was given a jail term of nine months and fined 1,000 yuan (156 U.S. dollars) after he confessed and reported other drug dealers. It took just three days to settle the case.
Under the program, the Supreme People's Court said 96.2 percent of the suspects and defendants in the 18 pilot cities were given jail terms of three years or below, and 79.8 percent of the cases were given in-court pronouncements of judgements or sentencing, demonstrating a steady increase of criminal procedure efficiency.
