Appeals project helps to advance the rule of law

Wu Hongyao, a co-founder who works at the university, said, "We hope to help improve judicial credibility by correcting miscarriages of justice and reducing the number of wrongful convictions."

Improved scrutiny

Prisoners who believe their convictions were flawed can apply for help from the project by letter or phone, or they can ask relatives to contact the organizers on their behalf.

However, not every case can be accepted, partly as a result of the strict selection procedure and partly because the project's remit only covers people convicted of homicide, intentional injury, rape or robbery and given the death sentence, a suspended death sentence or life imprisonment.

"We focus on prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of violent crimes and given the harshest penalties, because they are the most urgent cases," Gao said. "They must provide court rulings in which the evidence did not prove, or was obviously insufficient to prove, that their convictions were correct."

For example, the project's organizers usually pay greater attention to verdicts based solely on a defendant's confession.

"We are usually very interested if we discover that a defendant made inconsistent statements when they were questioned, or if their confessions have no relation to the physical evidence," Gao said. "In other words, we select cases where we feel the appeal has a strong chance of succeeding."

During the first stage of the selection process, cases are reviewed by volunteers at the university, most of whom are postgraduates or doctoral students majoring in law. The cases they select are then presented to a team of experts consisting of law professors across the country, who discuss them and formulate possible appeal plans. When a case is accepted, the Shangquan Law Office funds the appeal and appoints a lawyer to handle it.

Before 2016, all cases were dealt with by lawyers from the Shangquan practice, but following a number of successful appeals, more attorneys offered their services. At present, more than 60 lawyers across the country are involved in the project.

"We always limit the number of cases and review the materials rigorously because we don't want to waste time and legal resources," Gao said. "If we discover that candidates have not told the truth about the way their case was handled, we are obliged to continue submitting their materials to the court, but we stop when the court rejects the appeal."

Sense of achievement

Zhang, the lawyer from the Shangquan Law Office who handled Liu's case, was nervous and excited on April 20, when his client's conviction was quashed at Jilin Provincial High People's Court.

"The feeling was like the first time I attended a trial," he said, adding that the result compensated for the lengthy appeal process and brought a great sense of achievement.

He decided to assist the appeal in March 2015, after reviewing the case documents and seeing photos of injuries to Liu's hands and feet, suggesting ill-treatment during questioning.