Book Launch in China:
Pre-trial Detention & Police Interrogation
(點擊這裡查看中文)
On May 29, 2018, the U.S.-Asia Law Institute (USALI) of NYU School of Law held a book launch for the release of their two newest publications, Questioning Police Interrogation Methods: A Comparative Study and The Evolution of Pretrial Detention Law: A Comparative Study. These two books are products of multi-year projects undertaken by USALI, featuring a variety of articles written by leading legal scholars, social scientists and law practitioners from the U.S., the UK and P.R. China about the important and evolving fields of pretrial detention and police interrogation methods.
The Books: A Comparative Look at Pre-trial Detention & Police Interrogation
To reach a broader audience, both books are published in Chinese and English. USALI staff compiled and translated the articles within the books with an eye toward sharing lessons and experiences among jurisdictions facing similar challenges. The Evolution of Pretrial Detention Law covers the history and practice of pretrial release and detention in the U.S. and the development of it in China. Meanwhile, Questioning Police Interrogation Methods offers analyses on recent studies of the causes of false confession and a road-map to eliminating coercion in police interrogation.
Questioning Police Interrogation Methods carefully examines the constitutional background of the privilege against self-incrimination and issues related to Miranda warnings in American criminal justice system. After analyzing the causes of false confessions and the resulting danger of wrongful convictions, the book offers a hopeful solution by detailing the “investigative interview,” or ‘PEACE’ method commonly used in the UK, where twenty-five years have passed since the last reported false confession.
The Evolution of Pretrial Detention Law introduces the history and origin of bail in the Anglo-American legal system, as well as more recent developments in the U.S. where cash bail has been increasingly challenged and scrutinized. China’s criminal justice system traditionally used to detain almost all defendants who are accused of any crime regardless of their risk of flight or recidivism. But, following the 2012 amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law, Chinese prosecutors have begun reviewing pretrial detention decisions to determine whether there is necessity to do so. Some Chinese jurisdictions have adopted creative alternatives to pretrial detention for juveniles and defendants charged with minor crimes.
The Book Launch
At the book launch held at Beijing Normal University, friends of USALI, leading Chinese criminal procedure law scholars, the publisher of both books – China Law Press – and contributors to the books gathered to discuss their contributions to the books, their reflections on one another’s work and the latest developments in China, the U.S. and the UK in the fields of interrogation and pretrial detention.
The book launch began with introductory remarks from Professor WANG Xiumei, of Beijing Normal University’s College for Criminal Law Science and USALI Executive Director Ira Belkin. Professor Wang went over the history of cooperation between USALI and Beijing Normal University, and specifically introduced the events on pretrial detention and wrongful conviction which later inspired the publication of two books. Professor Belkin thanked all the contributors to the books for their invaluable contributions, and Beijing Normal University for hosting this event. He stated “I am confident that the groundbreaking research, comprehensive commentary and imaginative proposals in these books will stimulate further progress in the rule of law in both China and the United States.” Remarks were also made by Dr. WANG Xukun from China Law Press, and esteemed host and contributor to one of the books, Professor SONG Yinghui.
Dr. Andy Griffiths and Professor Richard Leo, who both contributed to Questioning Police Interrogation Methods and accompanied USALI to China for a series of lectures, shared with the audience the background, context, and content of their chapters. Professor Leo focused on risk factors for police-induced false confessions and failures in preventing them in the first place and detecting them when they occur. In his two chapters, Professor Leo also pointed out the problem with the presumption of guilt in trying to obtain confessions from suspects, which leads to an over-reliance on confession evidence by police. Dr. Griffiths reviewed the evolution of interrogation methods in the UK: from a confession-driven confrontational approach to an information-gathering investigative approach. He noted, one of the most important parts of the UK’s journey was a commitment by senior police officers to the training programs which implement the PEACE model mandated by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984) . He also introduced the development of interview methods in the UK and recent findings of the effects of advanced training on police performance. To conclude, Mr. Ira Belkin briefly introduced the three major parts of the book: 1) fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination and Miranda , which lay the foundation of voluntariness test for confession and admissions; 2) findings based on many years’ social science research that neither Miranda nor fifth amendment rights are sufficient to prevent false confessions; and 3) practice in the UK that offers a path forward to reform the system and culture of law enforcement.
Professor Richard Leo (center)
The presentations from Dr. Griffiths and Professor Leo led to a series of rich responses from the invited guests, each of whom is a leading Chinese criminal procedure expert. Professor LIU Fangquan (Fujian Normal University School of Law) pointed out the differences in mindsets of police and lawyers and spoke about China’s experience and difficulties in improving interrogation techniques, comparing it with British experience. Professor GU Yongzhong of China University of Political Science and Law took a ‘foreign expert’s perspective’ in comparing the systemic differences between the U.S. and UK models of interrogation.
Professor SONG Yinghui then discussed the topic of pretrial detention. He summarized recent developments in pretrial detention in China and specifically pointed out the relationship between the rate of pretrial detention and recent prosecutorial reforms. Prosecutor DAN Wei, who contributed a chapter and the preface to The Evolution of Pretrial Detention Law reiterated that the appropriate purpose of pretrial detention is the ensure the presence of the accused at trial and to protect public safety and stated, given the serious collateral consequences of pretrial detention, that reviewing the necessity of pretrial detention must be taken seriously by prosecutors. Professor SHI Limei (Beijing Normal University School of Law) followed up with Professor Dan’s comment by introducing two important components of efforts of reduce pretrial detention rates: 1) secure and effective alternatives to pretrial detention; and 2) an effective pretrial risk assessment mechanism. As a contributor to the book, Prosecutor LI Hongliang (prosecutor of Guangzhou Huadu district People’s Procuratorate) expressed his belief that increasing the use of non-custodial detention measures would require reforms to the prosecutor evaluation system which currently regards detention necessity review as a major assessment metric for prosecutors.
USALI Staff at the book launch.
USALI and its staff have worked on these two subjects for many years. The Institute’s research scholars LIU Chao, Amy Gao, and YIN Chi also spoke at the book launch, presenting their findings on the limits of Miranda, current U.S. law and practice regarding mandatory electronic recording of custodial interrogations, and an update on the state of pretrial justice reform efforts across the U.S., including attempts to abolish cash bail.
These books are available on the USALI website: http://usali.org/
新书发布会简况
2018年5月29日，纽约大学法学院亚美法研究所为刚出版的两本新书——《审前羁押制度演变的比较研究》和《追问警察讯问方法——比较法的视角》举行了一场新书发布会。审前羁押和警察讯问方法这两个研究领域十分重要，而且一直在发展进步。这两部专著体现了亚美法研究所多年来的研究项目成果，特别是中、美、英三国的知名法学家、社会学家和法律实务人员在这些研究领域的著作成果。
为了方便更多的读者阅读，该两本书都是中英双语。亚美法研究所的工作人员以分享不同法域处理类似挑战的经验和教训为着眼点，编撰翻译里书中收录的文章。《审前羁押制度演变的比较研究》涵盖了美国审前羁押和释放的历史和司法实践，以及该制度在中国的发展演 变。同时，《追问警察讯问方法——比较法的视角》分析了关于虚假供述成因的最新研究，并提供了消除警察讯问中的胁迫问题的解决方案。
《追问警察讯问方法——比较法的视角》仔细剖析了被告人所享的不自证其罪权利的宪法背景，以及美国刑事司法系统中与米兰达警告相关的内容。该书分析了虚假供述的成因，以及由此酿成错案的危险，并通过对英国普遍采用的“调查性会见”（又称PEACE五步法）的详细介绍，提出了可行的解决方案。据了解，英国采用该方法讯问被告人至今已25年，尚未出现一例虚假供述。
《审前羁押制度演变的比较研究》介绍了英美法系中保释的历史和渊源以及在美国目前的最新发展。现在，美国的现金保释不断受到愈发广泛的批评和日益严格的审查。中国刑事司法中的传统做法是不论被告人受到何种指控，以及其逃跑或者再犯罪的风险大小，一般都在候审阶段予以关押。但是，自从2012年刑事诉讼法修改以来，中国的检察官开始对审前羁押必要性进行审查，以决定是否需要继续羁押。中国一些地方还针对未成年人和轻罪被告人采取一些创新性的审前羁押替代措施。
新书发布会
在北京师范大学举行的这场新书发布会上，亚美法研究所的新老朋友，包括中国刑诉法界知名学者、本书的出版单位法律出版社的代表，以及部分撰稿人汇集一堂，畅谈了各方对该书所做的贡献，回应了彼此的研究工作，以及中、美、英三国在警察讯问和审前羁押方面最新的进展。
发布会在北京师范大学刑事法律科学研究院王秀梅教授和亚美法研究所执行主任柏恩敬教授的介绍发言中拉开帷幕。王教授回顾了亚美法研究所和北京师范大学多年来的合作历史，特别是在审前羁押和冤错案件这两个项目中的合作，促成了这两本书的编撰和出版。柏恩敬教授感谢了所有撰稿人对本书的宝贵贡献，以及北京师范大学慷慨承办这次新书发布会。柏教授指出：“我相信本书中开创性的研究，全面详细的评论和创新性的改革建议会促进中美两国在依法治国方面取得进一步发展。”法律出版社的王旭坤博士和撰稿人之一北京师范大学刑事法律科学研究院的副院长宋英辉教授也做进行了发言。
安迪•格雷菲斯博士和理查德•里奥教授与在场各位分享了他们在《追问警察讯问方法——比较法的视角》中各自文章的写作背景、问题的社会和法律背景，以及简要内容。他们两位这次也专程随同亚美法研究所来到中国做了一些列讲座。里奥教授主要讨论了风险因素在警察诱供，预防诱供失败以及识别诱供三种情景中的作用。在他撰写的两篇文章中，里奥教授还指出为了获取嫌疑人有罪供述背后的有罪推定问题，导致警察对口供证据的过度依赖。格雷菲斯博士回顾了英国警察讯问方法的演变，如何从以获取口供为目的的对抗性模式转变为以搜集信息为目的的调查性模式。他指出，英国历程的一个重要方面是，1984年《警察和刑事证据法》要求必须采用PEACE五步讯问方法，资深警官对专门针对这种讯问方法的培训项目相当信奉。他还介绍了英国警察最新调查讯问方法的进展，以及对已经通过基本培训的警察进行深入培训的效果的最新研究成果。在发布会的最后，柏恩敬教授简要介绍了该书的三个主要部分：1. 作为被告人供述和自认中自愿原则基石的美国宪法第五修正案不自证其罪的权利和米兰达规则；2. 基于多年来的社会学研究发现，米兰达规则和第五修正案均不不足以防止虚假供述；3. 英国的做法为我们提供了改善执法部门中警察文化和系统问题的一个道路参考。
格里菲斯博士和里奥教授的讲座在应邀到场的各位中国刑诉法专家中引起了热烈的回应。福建师范大学法学院的刘方权教授指出了警察和律师不同的思维模式，以及与英国对比中在中国改善警察讯问方法的困难。中国政法大学的顾永忠教授从“外国专家”的角度比较分析了美国和英国讯问方法的差异。
宋英辉教授探讨了审前羁押的问题。他总结了中国审前羁押的最新发展，特别是审前羁押率的变化和最近检察改革之间的关系。最高人民检察院理论研究所的但伟教授为《审前羁押制度演变的比较研究》专门撰写了文章并为本书作序。他再次强调审前羁押的正当目的是保证被追诉的人在审判时能够到庭和保护社会安全，考虑到审前羁押带来的严重不利后果，检察官必须认真对待审前羁押必要性审查。北京师范大学法学院史立梅教授紧接着但伟教授的发言介绍了降低审前羁押率的有效替代方法的两个重要组成部分：一个是安全有效的措施来替代审前羁押，另一个是有效的审前风险评估机制。广州市花都区人民检察院的李洪亮检察官作为本书的撰稿人之一，表达了他对非羁押的强制措施的看法。他指出要鼓励采用非羁押的方法，也需要改善检察官的工作评估机制，比如，将对羁押必要性的审查作为检察工作的一个主要评估指标之一。
亚美法研究所及其所有工作人员在该两个课题上倾注了多年的工作。研究员刘超、高原、殷驰也分别在发布会上发言，分享了她们的研究成果，包括米兰达规则的限制，美国目前在警察讯问中强制录音录像方面的法律规定和司法实践，以及全美审前司法改革的最新进展，包括对金钱保释的废除。
两本书均可在亚美法研究所的网站上阅读下载：