If during the investigation, it is discovered that the criminal suspect has other important criminal facts, the detention and investigation period will be recalculated from the date of discovery.
If the following conditions are met and the investigation cannot be concluded within the above-mentioned period, the extension may be extended for two months with the approval or decision of the People's Procuratorate of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government:
1. Major and complex cases in remote areas with inconvenient transportation. This is mainly due to the fact that in some remote areas of our country, such as Xinjiang, Qinghai and other places, due to underdeveloped transportation, most of the handling time for some major cases is spent on the road, making it difficult to complete the investigation in a short period of time. Of course, not all cases in remote areas with inconvenient transportation can extend the handling period. They must also be major and complex cases. This provision cannot be applied to general cases.
2. Cases belonging to major criminal groups. This is mainly due to the fact that in major criminal group cases, multiple criminal activities are organized and purposefully carried out. The number of criminals is large and the criminals have formed an offensive and defensive alliance, which brings many difficulties to investigators in collecting evidence and detecting cases. Therefore, in such cases, the investigation period can be extended by another two months.
3. Major and complex migration cases. Fleeing crimes involve a wide range of areas and criminals are highly mobile, which brings certain difficulties to investigation and evidence collection. Of course, the extension of the investigation period for criminals who commit crimes by two months must be a major and complex case.
4. It must be a major and complex case involving a wide range of areas and difficult to obtain evidence. For the investigation and evidence collection of such cases, it is necessary to travel to multiple provinces, regions, and even go abroad, and it is bound to spend a lot of time on the road. Therefore, it is necessary to extend the case handling period for another two months.
For cases in which the criminal suspect may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years, the investigation cannot be concluded within the above-mentioned period. In order to ensure the quality of the case, with the approval or decision of the People's Procuratorate of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, the case may be Extended by another two months, that is, for such cases, the maximum period of investigation and custody after the suspect is arrested is seven months.
If the criminal facts are clear and the evidence is reliable and sufficient when the public security organs investigate a case, they should write a prosecution opinion and submit it to the People's Procuratorate for review and decision together with the relevant materials and evidence of the case. For cases investigated by the People's Procuratorate on their own, if the criminal facts are clear and the evidence is reliable and sufficient, they should prepare an indictment and decide to initiate a public prosecution.
The People's Procuratorate shall conduct a comprehensive review of the cases transferred by the public security organs, review the files, verify the evidence, and make a decision within one month whether to initiate a public prosecution. If the case is complex or urgent and cannot be concluded within one month, it may be extended by half a month. If the case cannot be concluded within the prescribed period, the criminal suspect may be temporarily released into society by means of bail pending trial, residential surveillance, etc., but the review work cannot be interrupted. Among them, the time spent on bail pending trial and under residential surveillance is not included in the case handling period. If the People's Procuratorate determines upon review that the case requires a change of jurisdiction, the time limit for review and prosecution shall be recalculated from the date the People's Procuratorate with changed jurisdiction accepts the case.
If the People's Procuratorate, upon review, deems that the facts of the crime are unclear, the evidence is insufficient, or there are omissions or other circumstances that require criminal liability, which may affect the conviction and sentencing of the criminal suspect, the case may be returned to the public security organ. , the public security organs will supplement the investigation; they can also conduct their own investigation. The supplementary investigation period shall be completed within one month starting from the day after the investigation agency accepts the case. If the supplementary investigation reaches the second time, it will be transferred to the People's Procuratorate after the supplementary investigation, and the period for review and prosecution will be recalculated.
If the People's Procuratorate, after review, believes that the criminal suspect's criminal facts have been ascertained, the evidence is reliable and sufficient, and criminal responsibility should be investigated in accordance with the law, it shall make a decision to prosecute and submit the case to the People's Court in accordance with the provisions of trial jurisdiction. File a lawsuit.
After the people's court of first instance accepts a public prosecution case, it shall form a collegial panel to conduct a trial in accordance with the law. The people's court shall pronounce the judgment within one month from the day after accepting the case, but no later than one and a half months.
If the case falls into one of the following circumstances, it may be extended by one month with the approval or decision of the Higher People's Court of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government: major and complex cases in remote areas with very inconvenient transportation; major criminal group cases; major and complex cases where crimes are committed on the fly; crimes Major and complex cases involving a wide range of areas and difficult to obtain evidence. During the trial process, the People's Court also has the following two situations in which the trial period is recalculated: first, for cases where the People's Court changes its jurisdiction, the People's Court will recalculate the trial period from the date of change; second, for cases where the People's Procuratorate requires supplementary investigation, If the case is transferred to the People's Court after the supplementary investigation is completed, the People's Court will also restart the calculation of the trial period.
It can be seen from the above regulations that the people's court must pronounce judgment within two and a half months at most.
If the defendant, private prosecutor and his or her agent ad litem, the defendant's defender and close relatives, or the parties to an incidental civil lawsuit and their agent ad litem, refuse to accept the first-instance judgment of the local people's court at any level, there shall be The local people's procuratorate at any level has the right to file an appeal within ten days from the day after receiving the judgment; if the local people's procuratorate at any level believes that the judgment of the people's court at the same level is indeed wrong, it has the right to make a decision on protest within 10 days. A decision on appeal shall be made within 10 days. The time limit for appeals and protests is 5 days.
When the second-instance people's court accepts an appeal or protest case, it shall conclude the case within one month, and no later than one and a half months. In the following circumstances, it may be extended for another month with the approval or decision of the Higher People's Court of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government: major and complex cases in remote areas with very inconvenient transportation; major criminal group cases; major and complex cases where crimes are committed on the fly; the scope of the crime involved Major and complex cases with wide scope and difficulty in obtaining evidence.
In other words, the hearing period of the second instance of the People's Court lasts for two and a half months.
The detention period mentioned here refers to the period during which criminal suspects and defendants are detained before the judgment of the case. Criminal suspects and defendants who are released on bail pending trial or who are under residential surveillance are not included in the calculation. In addition, according to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, the period during which criminal suspects and defendants undergo psychiatric evaluation is not included in this period.