Three Departments Issue Opinions on Improving the Mechanism for Reviewing the Identities of Criminal Suspects and Defendants

Three departments, including the Supreme People's Court (SPC), have jointly issued the Opinions on Improving the Mechanism for Reviewing the Identities of Criminal Suspects and Defendants in Criminal Cases (the "Opinions"), effective from the date of issuance.

The Opinions, consisting of 15 articles, mainly involve: (1) clarifying the overall requirements; (2) clarifying the review requirements during the investigation stage; (3) clarifying the review requirements during the case review and prosecution stage; (4) clarifying the review requirements during the trial stage; and (5) clarifying the relevant working mechanisms. According to the Opinions, public security authorities shall verify the identities of criminal suspects by adopting different approaches depending on the circumstances, including cross-checks in information systems, archival information comparison, and biometric information comparison. A suspect's identity shall not be confirmed without verification. The Opinions further stipulate that, for cases transferred by public security authorities for review and prosecution, the people's procuratorates shall review whether the prosecution opinion specifies the suspect's identity and whether there is supporting evidentiary material. Where no relevant evidentiary material is provided, the procuratorates shall require the public security authorities to promptly make supplements.



(Source: https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbt/202509/t20250929_707760.shtml#2)

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