👉The table of contents so far is here.
Chapter 7: The System of Litigation Law
7.4. Offences justice system -part 1-
Offences justice system refers to the field of justice system that aims to clarify illegal acts and take action against those who commit them. It is equivalent to criminal justice in capitalist society, but it is not called "criminal" because communist law does not have a penal system.
Needless to say, the starting point for offences justice is the clarification of the facts of the offence, but while in the criminal justice process, the clarification of the facts and punishment are usually carried out together in the form of a criminal trial, in offences justice the process of clarifying the facts and the treatment of the offender based on them are clearly distinguished and completely separate. This is because the two processes are essentially completely different.
The beginning of uncovering the facts of an offence is a formal investigation by an investigative agency. Communist investigations are carried out by a dedicated investigative agency, not the police. With the abolition of the monetary economy, there is no class difference between rich and poor, and public safety would be maintained at an extremely stable level in a communist society, so there is no need for a powerful security agency such as the police, and in fact it does not exist (see my article).
If necessary to pursue an investigation, investigative agencies can request the issuance of an arrest warrant or search and seizure warrant from the Tribune for Habeas Corpus, a type of judicial position tasked with protecting the personal safety of citizens, and conduct a compulsory investigation. On the other hand, the Civil Patrollers, who are quasi-public servants whose main task is offence prevention, can also make arrests in the act of committing an offence without a warrant.
A suspect who is taken into custody is immediately summoned to habeas corpus for a public hearing. If it is determined as a result that continued detention is no longer necessary, the Tribune for Habeas Corpus must order the release of the suspect.
Incidentally, if a body is discovered that has died from an unnatural cause other than obvious illness, an autopsy is carried out by the coroner, a public professional independent of the investigative agency. The autopsy results are finally confirmed after a public hearing by a inquest presided over by the Tribune for Habeas Corpus.
Once the investigation is completed, the evidence collected by the investigative agency is temporarily sent to the tribune for Habeas Corpus. The tribune for Habeas Corpus will summon the suspect for questioning again, and if the suspect fully admits to the alleged facts, the case will be sent to the Correction and Probation Commission, which decides how to treat the offender. If the suspect denies all or part of the alleged facts, it will decide to convene the Truth Commission to clarify the facts.
If we compare this with traditional criminal justice, the procedure of indictment by a public prosecutor, which has been standard in the criminal justice process since the Napoleonic Code after the French Revolution, does not exist in communist criminal justice, and as mentioned above, it is a system in which the processes of investigation, fact-finding, and treatment are organically linked through the Tribune for Habeas Corpus.
Furthermore, minor offenses and juvenile delinquency that do not require any measure beyond a warning are dealt with by the Civil Patrollers issuing official written warnings as part of offence prevention activities, and formal investigations are omitted.
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism.
