New | Guangzhou vows new detention centres won't be like labour camps
Judiciary says facilities are part of Guangzhou's new experiment in dispensing high-speed justice for petty criminals
Wan Yunfeng, presiding judge of the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, said the formation of the detention centres did not constitute a revival of the labour camp system but would help in plans for fast-track trials for those involved in minor offences.
The centres will be part of an experiment to introduce speedy trials for cases involving lighter sentences. Wan said Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, northwest of Hong Kong, would be the testing ground for this new system.
He added that the centres had been in the works since October.
According to the city’s politics and law commission, cases that are eligible for speedy trials involve crimes punishable by less than three years in jail, including dangerous driving, theft, fraud, robbery, extortion, blackmail and troublemaking.
The new system is only applicable to cases in which defendants have been charged with only one offence and pleaded guilty.
Under the new system, the judiciary procedures would be simplified and there is a time limit for courts to finish trials – seven days if the defendant is not detained by police, and 15 days if the defendant is in custody.