On the 23th and 24th of October 2018 around 300 Chinese public prosecutors attended a course on German criminal law in Yichang, Hubei province. The two-day course was part of a week-long training organized by the Theory Research Institute of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (RISPP). Two German experts gave lectures on three central subjects and answered questions on different aspects of criminal law and the prosecution service in Germany. Chief public prosecutor Mr. Raupach, head of the prosecution service in Berlin, started the course with a lecture on pre-trial detention. Legal requirements, the institutions involved and the duration of pre-trial detention were presented. An important subject which was discussed further during the following question and answer part of the course, were the rights of the suspect during pre-trial detention.
The second day of the course started with a lecture by Dr. Schlichte, Director of the Sino-German Legal Cooperation Programme and Judge at the Local Court of Hamburg. He spoke about legal provisions and guidelines governing sentencing. During his speech the theory behind sentencing and the general goals of criminal law, such as general and specific prevention, were highlighted. Chief public prosecutor Mr. Raupauch gave the last lecture on the Public Prosecution Service in Germany. He put special emphasis on the right to give instructions, its scope and limitations. The Chinese participants asked questions on subjects such as juvenile law, the relationship of authority between the police and the public prosecutor and the evaluation of individual prosecutors by their chief prosecutor.