1. Due to irresistible reasons.
2. This may be the influence of COVID-19 epidemic.
3. It may be that the trial limit of the case is not enough.
The defendant may be seriously ill and unable to appear in court.
Among them, the lack of trial time is probably the fundamental reason, and the other three are the direct reasons, which led to the termination of the trial.
First, the fundamental reason for suspending the trial may be that the trial time limit of the case is insufficient.
According to Article 243rd of the Criminal Procedure Law, the trial period of a case of second instance is two months. For death penalty cases, the Provincial Higher People's Court can decide to extend it for another two months, and if it needs to be extended, it needs to be reported to the Supreme People's Court for approval. It has been nearly eight months since Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court made the first-instance judgment on August 24th, 20021. Deducting the time that is not included in the trial limit, the trial limit of this case is bound to approach the regular trial limit of four months. Therefore, if Fujian Provincial High Court wants to extend the trial period, it must report to the Supreme Court for approval. Although the Supreme Court is likely to approve such procedural matters as extending the trial time limit, it is certainly complicated and takes a lot of time for the judge handling the case. Therefore, generally speaking, the case-handling judge is usually unwilling to report to the Supreme Court for approval when he has other options, and suspending the trial is only a way to extend the trial time indirectly.
In addition, it can be inferred from the suspension of the trial that the Fujian Provincial High Court has a high probability that there is no application for psychiatric appraisal filed by Wu's defense lawyer, because the appraisal period is not included in the trial limit. If there is an appraisal, the trial period will not be so tight, and naturally there is no need to make a decision to suspend the trial.
Two, the direct cause of the suspension of the trial may be the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Although there are so many above, the lack of trial time limit is obviously not an irresistible reason, which belongs to the internal affairs of the court and cannot be used as a legal basis for suspending the trial. The "irresistible" reason of this case is the COVID-19 epidemic.
Although Wu's defender received the ruling on April 22, the time for signing the ruling was March 2 1. At this time, affected by the epidemic situation in Quanzhou, Fujian Province was under strict control, and detention centers in Fuzhou could not meet normally, and most criminal cases could not be held normally. Under this premise, the Fujian Provincial High Court naturally cannot hear the case normally, so the epidemic situation can obviously be used as an "irresistible" reason, so the court can be used as a basis for suspending the trial.
3. Is it possible that there are other reasons besides the COVID-19 epidemic?
In addition to the possibility of the epidemic, there may also be other reasons, such as Wu's self-mutilation and suicide in the detention center, which led to the failure of the court to hold a normal session. However, this possibility is relatively small, because the detention center is very strict with such death row inmates, and if they self-harm or commit suicide, they will stop it as soon as possible. If this is the case, the court is more likely to use Article 206 of the Criminal Procedure Law.
(1) The defendant is seriously ill and cannot appear in court; "Not an irresistible reason.
It may also be that the defense lawyer can't appear in court normally. Because Wu has only one defense lawyer, and the death penalty case needs to be defended by a lawyer, his defense lawyer must attend the trial. If the defender can't appear in court normally due to illness, COVID-19 epidemic isolation, accidents and other factors, this is also an irresistible reason, and the trial can be suspended. Considering that the news of the suspension of the trial was revealed by Wu's defense lawyer, this possibility is even less.
4. When can the case be resumed?
The second paragraph of Article 206 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that "after the reasons for suspending the trial disappear, the trial shall be resumed. The time limit for suspending the trial is not counted in the trial period. " Therefore, as long as the cause disappears, the court must resume the trial.
If it is because of the epidemic, we need to wait for the epidemic to improve. Although the whole area of Fuzhou is low-risk, due to the previous epidemic, the control has not been completely liberalized, and detention centers and courts are still unable to enter and exit normally. Therefore, it is expected that it will take some time for the trial to resume. But as long as there is no more epidemic, it should not exceed two months at the latest. If it is because of Wu's self-mutilation, suicide, etc. You need to wait until his body is restored to a state where he can stand trial. If it is because of the defense lawyer, it is necessary to wait until the reasons for his inability to appear in court are eliminated.
legal ground
Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 206 In the course of a trial, if the trial cannot be continued for a long time under any of the following circumstances, the trial may be suspended:
(1) The defendant is seriously ill and cannot appear in court;
(2) The defendant escaped;
(3) The private prosecutor is unable to appear in court due to serious illness, and has not entrusted an agent ad litem to appear in court;
(4) Due to irresistible reasons.
After the reasons for suspending the trial disappear, the trial shall be resumed. The time limit for suspending the trial is not counted in the trial time limit.
Article 243 The people's court of second instance shall conclude the case of appeal or protest within two months. For a case that may be sentenced to death or a case with incidental civil action, if one of the circumstances specified in Article 158 of this Law occurs, it may be extended for two months with the approval or decision of the higher people's court of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government; Due to special circumstances need to be extended, it shall be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval.
The time limit for accepting appeals and protests in the Supreme People's Court shall be decided by the Supreme People's Court.