The nationality of foreigners shall be determined by the valid documents they hold when entering the country; if the nationality is unknown, it shall be determined by the public security organ in conjunction with the foreign affairs department. If the nationality cannot be determined, the person shall be treated as a stateless person and the procedures for hearing foreign criminal cases shall apply.
The criminal liability of foreigners who enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities should be resolved through diplomatic channels.
Defendants of foreign nationality enjoy litigation rights and bear litigation obligations under Chinese law in criminal proceedings.
If an international treaty concluded or acceded to by the People's Republic of China has clear provisions on criminal procedure, the provisions of the international treaty shall apply. Except for the clauses that China has stated to reserve.
People's courts shall try foreign-related criminal cases in public. However, cases involving state secrets and personal privacy will not be heard in public. For cases that are being heard in public, those who are issued by the People's Court to attend the hearing will be allowed to attend the hearing.
The people's courts shall use the languages ??and scripts commonly used in the People's Republic of China to hear foreign-related criminal cases and provide translations for foreign defendants. If a foreign defendant is proficient in Chinese language and refuses to be translated by others, he shall make a written statement or record the oral statement in the file. If the litigation document is in Chinese, it shall be accompanied by a foreign language translation familiar to the defendant. The translation shall not be affixed with the seal of the People's Court, and the Chinese version shall prevail. The cost of translation shall be borne by the defendant.
If a foreign defendant refuses to accept legal documents, the matter shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 104 of this Interpretation.
If a foreign defendant entrusts a lawyer to defend him, and a plaintiff or private prosecutor in an attached civil lawsuit entrusts a lawyer to represent him in the litigation, he shall entrust a lawyer who has the qualifications of a lawyer in the People's Republic of China and has obtained a practicing certificate in accordance with the law.
If a defendant with foreign nationality has not appointed a defender, the people's court may appoint a defender for him. If the defendant refuses to be defended by the defender, he shall submit a written statement or record the oral statement in the file, and the people's court shall allow it.
The power of attorney issued by a foreigner living outside the territory of the People's Republic of China to a Chinese lawyer or a Chinese citizen must be notarized by the notary office of the country where the country is located, authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where it is located or its authorized agency, and must be certified by the Chinese It must be authenticated by the embassy or consulate in that country to be legally effective. However, there are mutual exemption agreements between China and other countries.
When the People's Court hears foreign-related criminal cases, it shall promptly notify the local foreign affairs department of the trial results and handling opinions.
For defendants in foreign-related criminal cases and other relevant criminal suspects identified by the People's Court, they may decide to restrict their exit from the country; for witnesses who must appear in court, they may be required to stay outside the country. The decision to restrict exit from the country must be notified to the public security agency or national security agency at the same level.
If the people's court decides to restrict foreigners or Chinese citizens from leaving the country, it shall notify the persons restricted from leaving the country orally or in writing, or may take the form of detaining their passports or other valid entry-exit documents to keep them pending the case hearing. You are not allowed to leave the country before the end of the period.
For foreigners and Chinese citizens who need to be prevented from exiting the country at border inspection stations, the People's Court shall fill in a port exit prevention notice. If the control port is in a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, the public security department (bureau) of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall handle the control handover procedures. If the control port is not in a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, the control handover procedures shall be handled through the public security department (bureau) of the relevant province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government. In case of emergency, it can also be transferred to the border inspection station if necessary, and then the transfer control procedures can be completed.
According to international treaties concluded or acceded to by the People's Republic of China, or in accordance with the principle of reciprocity, Chinese and foreign courts may entrust each other with certain litigation matters.
If the matters requested by foreign courts are inconsistent with the sovereignty, security and social publicity of the People's Republic of China, or violate Chinese laws, they shall be rejected; if they do not fall within the scope of the Chinese courts' jurisdiction, they shall be returned with explanation. reason.
Requesting the courts of countries that have concluded judicial assistance agreements with China to represent certain litigation cases must be reported to the Supreme People's Court for review and approval by the higher people's courts of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
If the courts of countries that have signed judicial assistance agreements with China request Chinese courts to handle certain litigation cases on their behalf, the Supreme People's Court will review and transfer the cases.
Service of litigation documents to parties residing outside the territory of the People's Republic of China and the People's Republic of China shall be carried out in the following ways:
(1) Service through diplomatic channels ;
(2) If the party concerned has Chinese nationality, the Chinese embassy or consulate may be entrusted with the service;
(3) If the law of the country where the party is located allows service by mail, the party may be served by mail.
(4) If the country where the party is located has a criminal judicial assistance agreement with our country, it can be served in the manner stipulated in the agreement;
(5) The party is a private prosecutor in a private prosecution case Or if the plaintiff in an attached civil lawsuit has a litigation agent, he or she may be served by the litigation agent.
People's courts and courts of countries that have diplomatic relations with China, in addition to countries that have judicial assistance agreements with China requiring the other party to serve legal documents through diplomatic channels according to the agreement, can also, based on the principle of reciprocity, through Legal documents are delivered through diplomatic channels.
Foreign courts to request Chinese courts to serve relevant criminal legal documents to Chinese citizens and third-country parties in China through diplomatic channels shall, unless there is a judicial assistance agreement with China, follow the following procedures:
(1) The country’s embassy or consulate in China will forward the legal documents to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for forwarding to the relevant High People’s Court. If the Higher People's Court deems upon review that it can serve the case on its behalf, it shall designate the relevant intermediate people's court to serve the party concerned. If the document requested to be served is accompanied by a service certificate, the party concerned shall sign the service certificate; if the service certificate is not attached, the intermediate people's court responsible for service shall issue a service certificate. The receipt of service or proof of service shall be forwarded by the High People's Court to the requesting party through the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
(2) If the party to be served enjoys diplomatic privileges and immunities, service will not be served; it does not belong to the people If it is within the scope of the court's jurisdiction, or if the service cannot be delivered due to unknown address or other reasons, the relevant higher people's court shall explain the reasons, and the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall explain the reasons and return the request to the party concerned. return.
Article 330: If a foreign embassy or consulate in China requests a Chinese court to serve legal documents to the country’s overseas nationals in China through diplomatic channels, the provisions of Article 329 of this Interpretation shall apply.
When the People’s Court serves legal documents to foreign parties through diplomatic channels, it shall follow the following procedures:
(1) The application for service of legal documents must be reviewed by the Higher People’s Court. Transferred by the High People's Court to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for transfer;
(2) The foreign name, gender, age, nationality and detailed address of the recipient must be accurately stated;
( 2) The foreign name, gender, age, nationality and detailed address of the person to be served must be accurately stated, and the basic information of the case must be informed to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
(3) The service must be accompanied by In the application form, indicate the name of the court being applied for. If the name of the requested court is unknown, service may be requested from the competent court in the area where the parties are located. Legal documents served must be accompanied by a translation into the official language of the requested party or a language agreed to be used by the third country. If the requested party has special requirements for notarization and authentication of requests and legal documents, the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify the High People's Court.
When the People’s Court entrusts our embassies and consulates abroad to serve legal documents to Chinese parties in foreign countries, the following procedures shall be followed:
(1) Legal documents entrusted to be served, It must be reviewed by the Higher People's Court, and then forwarded by the Higher People's Court to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
(2) The foreign name, gender, age and detailed address of the recipient must be accurately stated. Address, and notify the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with basic information about the case.
The fees for mutual entrustment of service of legal documents by Chinese courts and foreign courts through diplomatic channels shall be referred to the "Supreme People's Court, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Justice on mutual entrustment of service of legal documents by Chinese courts and foreign courts through diplomatic channels" and "Notice on the Measures for the Revenue and Expenditure of Investigation and Evidence Collection Fees".
If a foreign defendant is arrested, tried or dies during the trial of a case, the embassy or consulate of his country in China shall be notified and handled in accordance with relevant regulations.
The request for judicial assistance from a foreign court to a Chinese court and the attached documents shall be accompanied by a Chinese translation or other language text stipulated in international treaties.
Other matters in the trial of foreign-related criminal cases shall be handled in accordance with the "Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China"*** and other relevant regulations.