Article 166 If the hearings of a case is postponed in accordance with the provisions of sub-paragraph (2) in Article 165 of this Law, the People's Procuratorate shall complete the supplementary investigation within one month.

Article 167 The court clerk shall make a written record of the entire court proceedings, which shall be examined by the presiding judge and then signed by him and the court clerk.

That portion of the courtroom record comprising the testimony of witnesses shall be read out in court or given to the witnesses to read. After the witnesses acknowledge that the record is free of error, they shall sign or affix their seals to it.

The courtroom record shall be given to the parties to read or shall be read out to them. If a party considers that there are omissions or errors in the record, he may request additions or corrections to be made. After the parties acknowledge that the record is free of error, they shall sign or affix their seals to it.

Article 168 A People's Court shall pronounce judgment on a case of public prosecution within one month or, one and a half months at the latest, after accepting it. Under one of the situations provided in Article 126 of this Law, the period may be extended by one more month upon approval or decision by the Higher People's Court of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

If jurisdiction of a People's Court over a case is altered, the time limit for handling the case shall be calculated from the date on which another People's Court receives the case after the alteration.

As to a case for which a People's Procuratorate has to conduct supplementary investigation, the People's Court shall start to calculate anew the time lime for handling the case after the supplementary investigation has been completed and the case has been transferred to it.

Article 169 If a People's Procuratorate discovers that in handling a case a People's Court has violated the litigation procedure prescribed by law, it shall have the power to suggest to the People's Court that it should set it right.

Section 2 Cases of Private Prosecution

Article 170 Cases of private prosecution include the following:

(1) cases to be handled only upon complaint;

(2) cases for which the victims have evidence to prove that those are minor criminal cases; and

(3) cases for which the victims have evidence to prove that the defendants should be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law because their acts have infringed upon the victims' personal or property rights, whereas, the public security organs or the People's Procuratorates do not investigate the criminal responsibility of the accused.

Article 171 After examining a case of private prosecution, the People's Court shall handle it in one of the following manners in light of the different situations:

(1) If the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is sufficient, the case shall be tried at a court session; or

(2) In a case of private prosecution for which criminal evidence is lacking, if the private prosecutor cannot present supplementary evidence, the court shall persuade him to withdraw his prosecution or order its rejection.

If a private prosecutor, having been served twice with a summons according to law, refuses to appear in court without justifiable reasons, or if he withdraws from a court session without permission of the court, the case may be considered withdrawn by him.

If during the trial of a case the judges have doubts about the evidence and consider it necessary to conduct investigation to verify the evidence, the provisions of Article 158 of this Law shall apply.

Article 172 A People's Court may conduct mediation in a case of private prosecution; the private prosecutor may arrange a settlement with the defendant or withdraw his prosecution before a judgment is pronounced. Mediation shall not be conducted for cases stipulated in sub-paragraph (3) of Article 170 of this Law.

Article 173 In the process of the proceedings, the defendant in a case of private prosecution may raise a counterclaim against the private prosecutor. The provisions governing private prosecutions shall apply to counterclaims.

Section 3 Summary Procedure

Article 174 The People's Court may apply summary procedure to the following cases, which shall be tried by a single judge alone:

(1) cases of public prosecution where the defendants may be lawfully sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or punished with fines exclusively, where the facts are clear and the evidence is sufficient, and for which the People's Procuratorate suggests or agrees to the application of summary procedure;

(2) cases to be handled only upon complaint; and

(3) cases prosecuted by the victims, for which there is evidence to prove that they are minor criminal cases.