The Chinese Procuratorates and A
Network for Spatial Study of Crime
Shanhe Jiang, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminal Justice
University of Toledo
Shanhe.jiang@utoledo.edu
419-530-4329
Visiting professor
University of Michigan
jiangsha@umich.edu
Prepared for the presentation at the University of Michigan
April 10, 2012
Two Parts of the Presentation
• I. The Founding and Development of Chinese
Criminal Justice Organs: A Focus on
Procuratorates
• II. Building A Global Network for Spatial
Study of Crime and Society
Part I
• The founding and development of the Chinese
procuratorate
 Reviews political and societal backgrounds ;
 Briefly explain the focus of this presentation;
 Discuss the impact of political and societal changes on the
founding and development of the procuratorate;
 Introduce Economic Census 2004;
 Explores the founding pattern of the procuratorate based
the 2004 Economic Census;
 Examines the correlates of the procuratorial development.
Part I. Background
Background: cont.
2. Criminal justice system in China: four components
 court system
 procuratorate system
 public security system
 correction system
 all CJ organs are centralized
Background: cont.
3. Major political changes in PR China
1949: the establishment of PR China
1957-1958: the Anti-Rightist Campaign
1966-1976: the Cultural Revolution
1978: the third plenary session of the 11th Central
Committee of Communist Party of China (CPC)
was held, economic reform started
Focus: Founding and Development of
the Procuratorate
Reasons for the focus.
1). The procuratorate is a very important CJ organ in China.
– is an independent component;
– is a governmental organ;
– along with the court system, ranks higher than other two
criminal justice components – the public security and the
corrections in terms of administrative level
– has important responsibilities:
• to supervise the enforcement of laws including civil cases;
• to make public prosecution on behalf of the State;
• to investigate criminal cases directly accepted by the People’s
Procuratorates as provided by law;
• other functions and duties as provided by law. See slides below
Divisions of the Supreme
People’s Procuratorate
investigation
prosecution
Anticorru
ption
Supervision of
prisons
Supervision of
civic cases
Supervision of
criminal cases
Supervision of
death penalty
Promotion of
law and policies
Provincial
procuratorate
Informant
center
Complaint
center
Consultation
center
Sue center
Compansation
Inquiry center
Appeals
Reasons for the Focus: cont.
2). The Chinese CJ system including procuracy increases its importance
in the world as China’s overall influence grows. Correspondingly,
there is an increasing interest in the procuratorate among scholars,
businessmen and professionals.
3). There is a lack of quantities research on the founding pattern of
the procuratorate and its development.
4). The nature of the data from a census and feature of the
procuratorate make the quantitative research possible.
A. The 2004 Economic Census collected the information of the starting
year of each procuratorate;
B. Since the procuratorate is a government organ, it continues to exist
once it is established or re-established in 1978;
C. A and B  cumulative frequency of the procuratorate (development of
the procuratorate)
The Impact of Political and Societal
Background on the Procuracy
1). 1949: the establishment of PR China: all the
law from the old regime was repealed and all
the legal organs from the old regime were
dissolved  rapidly set up the Supreme
People’s Court, the Supreme People’s
Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security,
and the Ministry of Justice in 1949; local
governments followed;
Impact: cont.
2). 1957-1958: the Anti-Rightist Campaign: Starting in the
second half year of 1957, law and CJ organs were
seriously criticized  stagnant or declined;
3). 1966-1976: the Cultural Revolution – lawless stage:
People’s Liberation Army gradually controlled courts,
procuratorates and public security organs and made
them existed in name only. In 1969 China formally
eliminated procuratorial organs at all levels; the 1975
Constitution declared that procuratorial organs of
authority are exercised by the public security organs at
all levels.
Impact: cont.
4). 1978 - present: the third plenary session of
the 11th Central Committee of CPC was held
in 1978, economic reform started. Rule by law
is stressed; the CJ organs eliminated during
the Cultural Revolution were resumed,
reestablished and many more new
procuratorates were established.
Expectations on the Founding and
Development of the Procuratorate
• 1949 and a few year after that: rapidly
established;
• 1957 to 1977: stagnant or existed only in name
• 1978 – now: rapidly resumed and more
establishments
• For the last period of time (1978-2012): given
stable political environment, factors such as
population, economic level and crime rate are
expected to affect the founding and development
Economic Census 2004
Organized and sponsored by China’s State Council;
2. National Bureau of Statistics of China designed and
conducted the survey;
3. Lasted about two years (2005 to 2006);
4. Hired more than 3 million census workers, along with more
than 10 million statistical or financial staff from the surveyed
units;
5. Collect information especially economic information in 2004
(or upon to 2004) from more than 5 million corporate bodies
and approximately 7 million establishments, including public
management and social organizations;
6. The census workers were selected on the basis of the
education and the past survey experience and then trained
and tested for the survey certificate and were also
supervised by the survey instructors during the survey;
7. The data collected from the census are confidential;
8. Pretests and post-census check.
1.
The Founding of the Procuratorate
1949-2004: Quantiative Results
1949-1956
frequency
1978-2004
1957-1977
The development of the
procuratorate: 1978-2004
procuratorate
1081
627
procuratorate
3770
procuratorate
procuratorate
procuratorate
procuratorate
Further Research
1. Multiple regression based on time series data
2. Check the impact of regions on the
emergence and development of the
procuratorate: see the next slide
Frequency Distribution of the Procuratorate
Comparison: Bejing, Guangdong, Congqing
Helongjiang, Zhejiang,
Similarities and Differences across
Regions
• Similarities: most established in 1978-1979
• Differences:
– Different frequency distribution (see map)
– Beijing established earlier (1950, higher % before
1955); Guangzhou started later (1954); Zhejiang
ended earlier (1993)
Further Research: cont.
3. Extend the existing study to other CJ organs
4. Further literature review
Part II. Building A Global Network for
Spatial Study of Crime and Society
1. Build A Website for Information
Sharing
2. Establish Spatial Explorer for Data
Export, Analysis & Presentation
Data Export or Reproduction
• Produce unlimited data from limited data
based on administrative units, establishments,
time, and space
Selection by Administrative Units
行政区选择
Select by map
Select by administrative units
Multiple Outputs 多种报告输出
Selection and Output by Establishments
Selection Based on Time
Selection by Locations
按空间位置选择
Select by X & Y coordinates
Select by locations on map
Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis
空间统计分析
Gravity Model for Space-time Data
Output：GIS Maps
3. Crime Data Source 1: Yearbooks:
National, Provincial and Local
Statistical Database:
• Monthly Statistics
• National Statistics
• Provincial Statistics
• City Statistics
• County Statistics
• Monthly Industrial Data
• Yearly Industrial Data
• Statistics on Map
• Statistical Yearbooks
Census Database:
• Population Census 1982
• Population Census 1990
• Population Survey 1995, 2005
• Province Census 2000
• County Census 2000
• Economic Census 2004
Crime Data Source 2: Census (i.e.
Economic Census 2004)
Crime Data Source 3: Surveys
• Integration with surveys： An
example
• China Survey in 2006: 28 provinces and 124
counties
• 中国社会调查：28省、市，124 县
2．Map
of
124 counties
1．Map of
China
3．Map
of
crime in 124
counties
Crime Data Source 4: Data from
Collaborators
• 1). From Shanghai University: Organized crime
• 2). From Control China Normal University: Formal and
informal crime control
• 3). From Shanghai Law and Politics College:
Community corrections
• 4). From Zhongnan University of Finance, Economics
and Law: Crime and criminal justice system
• 5). From other data sharing
• Note: Some data are qualitative including relevant
literature
4. Spatial Criminology: Some Possible
Research Topics
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-Spatial theory in crime and criminal justice system: routine activities theory, social
disorganization theory
-Spatial analysis of crime and criminal justice system
-Identifying the spatial patterns of crime distribution and CJ organs distribution
-Spatial modeling for the complex system
-Identifying interactions among different types of crime and CJ organs
-Identifying correlations between crime, CJ organs, religion, population, economy,
and culture at different times and different regions
-Location analysis of CJ organs
-Local functions of CJ service
-Spatial range of CJ service
-Spatial policies of CJ administrative management and crime control
-The internal governance of CJ organs
-The local governance of CJ organs
- Policing and crime hot spots
Questions
and
discussion
I am grateful to Dr. Bao for inviting me
for this presentation and giving the
access to the data at the China Data
Center as well as some of his slides.
Thank you!