Notice of the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court on the Pilot Work of Community Correction

Our company [2003]No. 12

Higher People's Courts, People's Procuratorates, Public Security Departments (bureaus) and Judicial Departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, Production and Construction Corps Branch of Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People's Procuratorate of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Public Security Department and Judicial Bureau:

Community correction is an execution method relative to imprisonment correction. It refers to a kind of non-custodial penalty execution activity in which criminals who meet the conditions of community correction are placed in the community, and their criminal psychology and behavior habits are corrected by special state organs with the assistance of relevant social groups, civil organizations and social volunteers within the time limit determined by judgments, rulings or decisions, so as to promote their smooth return to society. Community correction is the targeted management, education and reform of criminals with minor criminal circumstances, less subjective malignancy and little social harm, or criminals who have truly repented after supervision and reform and no longer endanger society. This is the trend of the development of criminal systems in the world today. In order to meet the requirements of China's political, economic, social and cultural development, it is necessary to carry out community correction pilot work and actively explore the reform of penalty execution system.

First, raise awareness, change ideas, and fully understand the significance of carrying out community correction pilot work.

It is of great significance to carry out the pilot work of community correction. First, it is conducive to exploring the construction of Socialism with Chinese characteristics's penalty system, actively promoting the construction of socialist democracy and legal system, fully embodying the superiority of China's socialist system and the requirements of human civilization and progress, and serving the construction of socialist political civilization and building a well-off society in an all-round way. Second, it is conducive to the targeted social correction of criminals who are unnecessary, unsuitable for imprisonment or continue to be imprisoned, make full use of the strength of all sectors of society, improve the quality of educational reform, maximize negative factors into positive factors, and maintain social stability. Third, it is conducive to the rational allocation of execution resources, so that imprisonment correction and community correction complement each other, enhance the efficiency of punishment and reduce the cost of execution.

In recent years, under the leadership of local party committees and governments, some places have carried out some pilot projects of community correction, summed up and accumulated some good experiences and practices, and achieved good social effects.

Judicial organs, procuratorial organs, public security organs and judicial administrative organs at all levels should further unify their thinking and attach great importance to the pilot work of community correction. According to the new situation and new requirements of China's social development, we should constantly sum up China's experience in cracking down on criminal crimes, learn from the beneficial practices of other countries in the field of criminal justice, emancipate our minds, renew our concepts, persist in severely punishing felons according to law, actively explore community corrections for minor criminals, and promote the reform of the penalty execution system with China characteristics, so as to fundamentally improve the quality of criminal education and reform, prevent and reduce recidivism, and realize the long-term stability of the country.

We should actively and steadily carry out the pilot work of community correction. The judicial, procuratorial, public security and judicial administrative departments should not only perform their duties in accordance with the provisions of China's criminal law, criminal procedure law, prison law and other relevant laws, but also keep pace with the times and actively explore. Through the pilot work, we will continuously expand the scope of application of community correction, improve the organizational system of community correction, improve the measures of community correction, and promote the reform of the penalty execution system. While deepening the pilot and summing up experience, we should actively promote the legislation of community correction and realize the standardized development of community correction work.

Second, the scope of application and tasks of community correction

(A) the scope of application of community correction

According to China's current laws, the scope of application of community correction mainly includes the following five types of criminals:

1. sentenced to control.

2. I was suspended.

3. Temporary execution outside prison, including:

(1) Suffering from a serious illness and needing medical parole;

(2) Women who are pregnant or nursing babies;

(3) Life can't take care of itself, and the application of temporary execution outside prison will not harm society.

4. Be sentenced to parole.

5. Being deprived of political rights and serving a sentence in society.

In the case of meeting the above conditions, juvenile offenders, the elderly, disabled offenders, first-time offenders and negligent offenders with minor criminal circumstances should be taken as the key targets, and the above-mentioned non-custodial measures should be applied to implement community correction.

(B) the task of community correction

1. In accordance with China's criminal law, criminal procedure law and other relevant laws, regulations and rules, strengthen the management and supervision of community prisoners to ensure the smooth execution of penalties.

2. Strengthen the ideological education, legal education and social morality education of community prisoners through various forms, correct their bad psychology and behavior, and make them repent and turn over a new leaf, abandon evil and become law-abiding citizens.

3. Help community prisoners solve difficulties and problems in employment, life, law and psychology, and help them adapt to social life smoothly.

In the pilot work, all localities should further explore and innovate the specific contents, methods, work processes and work systems of community correction work according to the needs of community correction tasks, and strive to improve the quality of education reform.

Three, duties, close cooperation, * * * to do a good job in community correction pilot work.

It is a comprehensive work to carry out community correction pilot, and relevant departments should perform their respective duties according to law, cooperate with each other and support each other to ensure the smooth development of the pilot work.

The people's courts should strictly and accurately apply the criminal law and criminal judicial interpretation, and make full use of non-custodial penalty measures such as commutation and parole and penalty execution measures to encourage criminals to reform and recover. In the process of sentencing to non-imprisonment sentence, commutation or parole, the opinions of relevant community correction organizations may be solicited, and after the verdict and announcement, the written judgment and ruling shall be copied to the relevant community correction organizations.

The people's procuratorate shall strengthen legal supervision, improve the supervision procedure of penalty execution, and ensure that the community correction work is carried out fairly according to law.

The judicial administrative organ shall take the lead in organizing relevant units and community grass-roots organizations to carry out community correction pilot work, jointly with the public security organs to do a good job in supervision and inspection of community prisoners, and organize and coordinate the education, reform and assistance and education of community prisoners. Street and township judicial offices shall undertake the daily management of community correction. The prison administration organ shall accurately apply the measures of temporary execution outside prison in accordance with the law, declare parole to the people's court in time for those who meet the conditions of parole, and actively assist the work of community correction organizations.

The public security organ shall cooperate with the judicial administrative organ to strengthen the supervision and inspection of community prisoners according to law and perform relevant legal procedures according to law. To take necessary measures according to the specific circumstances in accordance with the law for community prisoners who violate the supervision and inspection regulations; Community prisoners who commit crimes again shall be dealt with in a timely manner according to law.

Four, strengthen leadership to ensure the smooth development of the pilot work.

To carry out the pilot work of community correction, we should choose communities with good grassroots work, sum up accumulated experience, continuously expand the pilot and gradually promote it. Through research, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces (cities) are identified as pilot provinces (cities) for community correction.

The pilot provinces (cities) shall, on the basis of full investigation and study, formulate specific pilot programs according to the requirements of this notice and local conditions. It is necessary to choose qualified places, organize all social forces, strengthen team building, establish working systems, and carry out positive publicity to ensure that the pilot work is implemented. The pilot work is mainly carried out in urban communities, and rural towns with conditions can also carry out pilot projects according to the situation. It is necessary to seriously study and solve the new situations and problems encountered in the pilot work, and constantly reform and improve the pilot program to lay a solid foundation for comprehensively carrying out community correction work.

The pilot work should be carried out under the unified leadership of party committees and governments at all levels. All relevant departments should actively participate in and cooperate with each other to effectively solve the practical difficulties and major problems in the pilot work, so that the pilot work of community correction can be carried out smoothly. We should give full play to the role of grassroots mass autonomous organizations, social organizations and social volunteers, and actively participate in and assist in the pilot work of community correction. On the basis of the pilot experience, we will promote the legislation of community correction, and provide legal guarantee for reforming and perfecting the penalty execution system with China characteristics.

July 2003 10

Research on rural community correction

(Shaanxi Provincial People's Procuratorate Research Office)

The countryside is an acquaintance society. Villagers know each other very well, and almost everyone is under the supervision of others. In addition, traditional ethics, rural ethics and regional ethics still have a strong binding force on villagers, which makes it easier for rural areas to carry out community correction work than cities.

Community correction is a penalty execution mode originated from the west. Because it conforms to the ruling idea of a harmonious society and the criminal policy of combining leniency with severity, it has rapidly entered the practical level in China in recent years. In July 2003, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the Notice on Launching the Pilot Work of Community Correction (hereinafter referred to as the Notice), and carried out the pilot work of community correction in six provinces (cities). On June 5438+ 10, 2009, the "Opinions on the Trial Implementation of Community Correction in China" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions") was issued again by the "two academies and two departments", demanding a comprehensive trial implementation of community correction. However, community correction is still a blank in the vast rural areas. It is quite necessary to discuss whether and how to go to the countryside to win the "praise" from all walks of life and develop the community correction work vigorously.

■ Can community correction be applied to rural areas?

The so-called community correction refers to the penalty execution method of placing criminals who meet specific conditions in the community with the participation of special state organs, social organizations and volunteers to help criminals return to society smoothly. The main working area of community correction is community, which mainly uses community resources. It is a non-custodial punishment method completed in the community.

Community was first put forward by German sociologist Tanis in 1887, which means that the interests of homogeneous people with the same value orientation are the same. After the reform and opening up in China, with the development of the city, community issues began to be brought into the theoretical and institutional vision. The Modern Chinese Dictionary published by China Academy of Social Sciences in 2006 defines the community as: "(1) residential areas in cities divided according to certain social characteristics; (2) Urban residential areas in China by geographical location. " The Modern Chinese Dictionary, published by the Commercial Press in 2007, explains the residential area as follows: "(1) All residents in the same residential area; (2) refers to the area within the activity scope of the neighborhood offices or residents' committees in this town. "As can be seen from the authoritative explanation above, the community scope in China mainly refers to the area where urban residents live, and the vast rural areas and villagers are not included in the community.

Corresponding to the concept of community, the scope of community correction is mainly urban street offices and residents' committees, but it is not clear whether rural towns and villagers' committees apply community correction. Although the statement that "street and township judicial offices should undertake the daily management of community corrections" was cancelled in the Notice in 2003, the Opinions in 2009 stipulated that "community prisoners who meet the minimum living guarantee conditions should be included in the minimum living guarantee scope, and the areas of responsibility should be implemented for eligible rural community prisoners". In recent years, although some scholars in the theoretical circle have made a preliminary study on the implementation of rural community correction, and the practical circle has also made sporadic explorations, the work of rural community correction is still progressing slowly and has not been widely implemented in practice.

Is community correction only suitable for cities and excludes rural areas? The author believes that community correction should also be extended to rural areas for the following reasons:

1. Community correction is a judicial mode, not a specific regional management mode. According to the provisions of the Notice, community correction is a non-custodial penalty execution method. Since it is a penalty execution method, it is essentially a judicial issue, and the fundamental elements are applicable conditions, methods and final effects, which should be universal. The core of justice is fairness, and it must not evolve into privilege because of differences in region and environment. In other words, criminals who can serve their sentences in the community in a non-custodial way in cities should be treated equally in rural areas, otherwise the justice will be unfair.

It is the basic requirement of the law to treat cities and rural areas differently. According to the spirit of the Opinions, there are five main types of criminals who are subject to community correction, including those who are sentenced to public surveillance, suspended, temporarily executed outside prison, sentenced to parole, and deprived of political rights to serve their sentences in society. The above situation is common among criminals whose household registration belongs to the city and lives in the city for a long time, and it also exists to some extent among criminals whose household registration belongs to the countryside and lives in the countryside for a long time. China is a traditional agricultural country. The rural population is much larger than that of cities, and the rural area is also much larger than that of cities. In recent years, rural population crime is also a prominent social problem, and criminals who meet the above situation in rural areas are a huge group. Since urban criminals can apply community correction, criminals who meet the above conditions in rural areas can of course apply the penalty execution method of community correction, and they cannot be excluded because they are registered in rural areas or live in rural areas.

■ Advantages of community correction in rural areas

According to the legal spirit of community correction and the requirements of the Opinions, we can see that rural community correction has the following obvious advantages:

1. The characteristics of rural society are more suitable for correction. China has 5,000 years of agricultural culture accumulation, and the countryside has many regional characteristics: (1) Families with the same blood often live in a village, and even a village is a blood tribe; (2) The geographical relationship is extensive, the countryside is an acquaintance society, and the villagers are familiar with each other, so that almost everyone is under the supervision of others; (3) Traditional ethics, rural ethics and regional ethics have a strong binding force on villagers. Based on the above three reasons, it is easier to correct crimes in rural areas. Community correction objects are afraid of family reputation, and under the supervision of others, ethical self-restraint will be more conducive to their correction of bad habits and return to society than cities.

2. Grassroots organizations have been strengthened to a certain extent. Rural grassroots organizations used to be weak, decadent and paralyzed, but since the central government put forward the requirement of building a new socialist countryside in 2005, rural grassroots organizations have been generally strengthened. Especially since the public election system and the appointment of university student village officials, the quality, age and knowledge structure of village cadres have been greatly improved, and their management ability has been significantly improved. The rectification work that can be carried out by urban neighborhood offices and neighborhood committees can also be carried out by rural towns and village committees. Coupled with the police stations and judicial offices in villages and towns, there will never be a hidden worry that no one is in charge and the measures are difficult to implement in carrying out community correction work in rural areas.

3. Social relations are relatively simple, which is more conducive to the return of the parties. A city is a complex system with a large population base and a large floating population. Because of the differences in folk culture, the disparity between the rich and the poor, the complex social relations, the difficulty in management, and many incentives for recidivism. Criminals need to make greater efforts to successfully reform in urban communities. In contrast, in a rural area, the population base is very small, social relations are relatively simple, and there are obviously fewer inferior people than in cities. Coupled with the simple folk customs and close income, the potential criminal causes are obviously less than those in cities. For minor crimes, under the mediation of elders and the integration of rural conditions, it is easier for the victim and the offender to reach an understanding, the damaged social relations are easier to recover, the cost of rural community correction is lower, and the social and legal effects are more significant.

■ How to carry out community correction in rural areas

1. Promote community management. French sociologist Durkheim pointed out: "The more advanced a society is, the greater its ability and the more developed its division of labor." As a non-custodial penalty execution mode, community correction belongs to a management mode of fine division of labor in society, which is more difficult than prison penalty execution and puts forward higher requirements for the management of the whole society. To carry out community correction in rural areas, we must first improve social management, and manage rural areas with the mode of managing urban communities in accordance with the idea of promoting rural community management put forward by the central government. Corrective activities should be actively undertaken by grass-roots organizations such as public security organs, procuratorial organs, legal departments and companies. The object of correction can neither rely entirely on the local judicial station nor be completely handed over to the extensive management of the village Committee. It is necessary to establish a relevant social management network, so that farmers who meet the conditions of community correction can really get management and help after returning to the countryside, and criminals can really get education and reform.

2. Respect the local characteristics of rural areas. The countryside is a tribal society. The extension of community correction to rural areas is not to copy all the working modes of cities to rural areas, and we must pay attention to the differences between them in many aspects. For example, the city is a stranger society, the countryside is an acquaintance society, the city is a conventional society, the countryside is an emotional society, the city is a complex society, and the countryside is a simple society. To carry out community correction in rural areas, we must respect the above characteristics and take targeted measures: first, give full play to the positive role of traditional morality and ethical rules, and use local norms to enhance the control of community correction; Second, pay attention to the role of geography and kinship, and use the supervision of relatives and acquaintances to help the corrected return to self-discipline; Third, we should be modest. The non-privacy of rural life requires that community correction should be carried out in a subtle way. Don't let a person's behavior affect the reputation of his family, relatives and friends, and prevent the living environment of the corrected person from deteriorating, which is not conducive to his return.

3. On the premise of normal production and life. Most farmers have no fixed jobs, and many people make a living by farming, participating in local small workshops or going out to work. Therefore, to carry out community correction work in rural areas, we must apply a relatively loose management model, encourage the corrected people to actively participate in production labor such as planting and breeding, and allow them to participate in some controllable migrant workers to ensure their family income. At the same time, for some corrected people who lack labor skills, or other corrected people who are slack in time, relevant parties can carry out some skills training activities so that they can learn a skill during the correction period, which will help them get a fundamental transformation.

4. Combining with the construction of new countryside. Community correction should be regarded as an important part of building a new socialist countryside, and special funds for community correction should be allocated from public funds, and community correction work should be specially deployed in rural areas with community correction targets. Activities such as sending law to the countryside, sending culture to the countryside, and sending science and technology to the countryside can also be combined with community correction, and relevant units that carry out activities in rural areas will focus on helping some correction objects return to society. Relevant non-governmental organizations and social volunteers can also take community correction as a support project, actively go deep into rural areas, give full play to their own advantages to carry out assistance activities for social correction objects, and promote their early transformation and return.

In a word, as long as we fully respect the characteristics of rural society and carry out targeted correction activities, community correction will certainly achieve ideal results in rural areas.