the second instance court is final. In 2007, the Supreme People’s Court resumed its function of approving all death sentences. This is discussed in Chapter 6. Recent reforms have attempted to make the criminal procedure more trial-focused, nevertheless courts and judges are not central to proceedings. Decisions on the use of bail and pre-trial detention are, for example, outside the purview of the court. As adjudicators, judges reach a judgement in the shadow of prior decisions made by the more politically powerful police and procuratorate. Until the power of the courts is perceived to be greater than other bureaucracies, it is difficult for the judiciary to provide robust scrutiny of the evidence and the respect for due process in a case. Once a case reaches the procuratorate stage, the victim’s family are entitled to appoint their own agent ad litem. The involvement of a lawyer on behalf of the victim goes beyond the inclusion of victim impact statements in many other jurisdictions. The agent ad litem will be able to view case files and submit opinions to the procuratorate and the court. First instance courts normally have two months to reach a judgement on the prosecution case. This may be extended to three months with the approval of the higher court or longer, if approved by the SPC. Where the court requests further investigations by the procuratorate, the deadline for adjudication will be recalculated. Death penalty and other serious cases should be considered by a seven-person collegial panel comprising four people’s assessors and three judges (People’s Assessors Law (PAL) 2018. Art.16). People’s Assessors (renmin peishenyuan) are citizens appointed to “participate” in trial activities; a phenomenon of many communist countries they are distinct from jurors in common law countries. The 2018 People’s Assessor Law revised some of the ways in which assessors are selected from among the general public and the scope of their work. After reviewing the case file and the hearing, people’s assessors vote, with judges, on the determination of facts. Although people’s assessors are permitted to express their views on the application of the law, they can no longer vote on this question (PAL.18 Art.22). The increased role of the people’s assessor system in serious criminal and other public interest cases is a response to the loss of public confidence in the criminal justice system. “Judges can manipulate the trial procedure to ensure efficiency and convenience and turn the trial into a mere formality.” A pre-trial hearing to consider issues such as evidence or recusal may be held. Applications for the exclusion of illegal evidence should be made at this stage although the effectiveness of the procedure has been called into question by lawyers and many legal scholars (see Chapter 3). Lawyers may also participate in the court investigation and question witnesses. During the trial, defence counsel will be allowed to present arguments, but the opportunity to call witnesses for the defence, and cross examine witnesses for the prosecution, is at the discretion of the court. Trials are generally short and may take no longer than one day. Judges often criticise defence counsel for taking too much time. For 36