China emphasizes both crime punishment and human rights protection: SPC

BEIJING -- China has been committed to punishing crimes with due consideration to protecting human rights, according to a work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

Efforts were made in 2020 to protect the innocent from being criminalized and prevent the guilty from escaping punishment, read the report submitted Monday to the ongoing national legislative session for deliberation.

Highlighting the importance of persistently seeking truth from facts and correcting any mistakes discovered, the report said that retrials helped revise the original sentences in 1,818 criminal cases.

The SPC also worked with the Ministry of Justice to push forward the full coverage of legal defense in criminal cases, allowing lawyers' access to the audio or video recordings of interrogation that were used as evidence, to guarantee lawyers to perform their duties under the law, said the report.