THE INSTITUTION OF LENIENCY TOWARD A PERSON WHO HAS ADMITTED GUILT AND IS READY TO BE PUNISHED: LEGAL REGULATION AND APPLICATION IN THE PRC

The institution of leniency toward a person who has admitted guilt and is ready to be punished in the criminal jurisprudence of the People’s Republic of China is meaningful for the implementation of an approach involving a combination of leniency and punishment, strengthening legal guarantees for the realization of human rights, and improving the use of judicial system resources. However, in the practice of its application since 2016, some problems have emerged, for example, related to a different understanding of the legal consequences of signing a plea of guilt and willingness to be punished; a contradiction between the convict’s right to appeal the verdict and the prohibition on the deterioration of his position in the appellate instance; an imperfect description of this institution in the law. In order to improve the institution of leniency toward a person who has admitted guilt and is ready to be punished, it is necessary to clearly describe in the law the legal force of the plea of guilt and willingness to be punished, provide guarantees of non-deterioration of the position of the convicted person when exercising his right to appeal the verdict, and fully disclose the role of a lawyer in the preparation of a plea of guilt and willingness to be punished and its application in a criminal case.