Case No 4 Hu Dianjie’s application for state compensation

1. Background

Hu Dianjie was suspected of intentional homicide and held in criminal detention on March 23, 2002. He was arrested on April 17 of that year. The procuratorate of Puyang city, Henan province, instituted a public prosecution of Hu at the Puyang Intermediate People’s Court (hereafter referred to as Puyang Court), and eventually he was sentenced to death. However, he received four two-year delays of execution. A court of second instance then cancelled the judgment and ordered a retrial. During the retrial, the procuratorate decided to withdraw the prosecution on Dec 29, 2010. The Puyang Court approved the withdrawal. The procuratorate returned the case to the public security organ for supplementary investigation. Hu was released and received residential surveillance instead of criminal compulsory measures. He had been detained for a total of 3,225 days when his residential surveillance expired on July 19, 2011.

2. Ruling

Hu Dianjie applied for state compensation to the Puyang Court on Dec 13, 2011, but the court would not hear his application. Hu then applied to the Compensation Committee of the Henan Provincial Higher People’s Court for reconsideration, which cancelled the decision made by the Puyang Court and ordered the Puyang Court to hear the case. The higher court held that as the procuratorate organ did not institute a prosecution within the legal time limit in which a criminal case may be returned for a retrial process, the claimant had the right to apply for state compensation in accordance with law.

After hearing the case, the Puyang Court deemed that “the end of criminal proceedings is a prerequisite to apply for criminal compensation……Hu Dianjie was released because the case could not be settled within his detention period in the criminal proceeding. As the case could not be settled within the legal time limit, and Hu was then put under residential surveillance (which later expired), it remained unclear whether the criminal proceeding was closed or not, or whether Hu had had something to do with the criminal case. Therefore, the court found that Hu Dianjie was not qualified to apply for state compensation and rejected his application on March 21, 2013.

Hu appealed this decision to the Compensation Committee of the Henan Provincial Higher People’s Court for state compensation. The committee ruled that the decision made by the Puyang Court should be cancelled, directing the court to pay 708,597 yuan ($107,853) as compensation for Hu’s 3,225 days of detention and 150,000 yuan for mental distress. The Puyang Court was also ordered to eliminate the negative effect on him, rehabilitate his reputation and apologize to him.

3. Significance

This state compensation case involves the identification of termination of criminal proceedings on retrial. The procuratorate did not institute the prosecution again for years after it was withdrawn with the permission of the Puyang Court, so the criminal proceedings against Hu were identified as closed, giving Hu the right to apply for state compensation.

The Puyang Court rejected Hu Dianjie’s application for state compensation because it insisted that it was unclear whether the prosecution of Hu was closed or whether Hu had anything to do with the criminal case. The rejection left Hu endlessly waiting and in a hopeless dilemma. The Henan Provincial Higher People’s Court corrected the situation and provided effective assistance. It recognized the right of a claimant who has met with hindrance in procedure and is unable to receive state compensation. Its handling of the case met the requirements of the State Compensation Law.