Localization and Reflections on the 'Trial-Centered' Litigation System Reform in China

Povzetek

To effectively implement the trial-centered litigation system reform, it is imperative to clarify its fundamental implications within China's judicial system. The assessment critically discusses the domestic deployment of China's 'trial-centered' reform of the litigation system. While the reform aims to rejuvenate the trial as the centerpiece of criminal procedure, it is argued here that such characterization is symbolic and serves political legitimacy more than judicial empowerment. A critical analysis of the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication phases by this study verifies that the reform did not uproot the deeply rooted investigation-led procedural model. Rather, trial-focused rhetoric works as a technocratic tool for proceduralizing the process without destabilizing institutional subordination. Rewriting the reform along these lines, this research reform consists of a double logic, one that preserves procedural legitimacy but relinquishes political control. However, the 'trial-centered' reform is discontinued in this research to serve more as a procedural symbolism tool and less as a means of empowering the judiciary, functioning instead as a state strategy to inject political legitimacy through procedural symbolism rather than genuine institutional reform.