Students attend criminal trial at Changping People’s District

21 November 2016, by Internetredaktion

Guilty or not guilty? This question was examined by the Changping People’s District on 17 November 2016 in a criminal trial against a defendant who was accused of having threatened his boss at work.  Approximately 30 Chinese and European students from the China-EU School of Law’s „Chinese Law Taught in English“ programme watched the judges closely reaching the verdict. Yue Liling, professor for criminal law, had organised the trip and translated simultaneously for the European students. “I am to enable students to compare court proceedings with the theory they learned and to let them experience the reality of legal action,” she says. “This is a very memorable event,” student Pu Jiadan agrees. “Even with the evidence that clear and the defendant’s confession which led to decision by summary judgement, real court proceedings are quite impressive.”

After the trial Ou Chunguang, president of the Changping People’s District, and Du Jinxing, presiding judge of the case, answered  the students’ questions. Which aspects were most important for the judgement? Could the convict appeal against the decision? Will he get legal aid?  “This discussion was very helpful to even better understand court proceedings, of course,” Pu Jiadan says.

The China-EU School of Law offers the „Chinese Law Taught in English“ programme every autumn to law students from all over the world. In winter semester 2016/17, around 20 international students learned about the Chinese legal system.