The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security have jointly issued the guidelines on improving the mechanism for reviewing the identities of suspects and defendants in criminal cases, in accordance with relevant laws and legislative and judicial interpretations. This move aims to enhance accuracy and timeliness of fact-finding and identity verification of suspects and defendants, to ensure the quality of case handling.

The guidelines consist of 15 articles and focus in five key areas.

First, overall requirements are clarified. The guidelines stipulate that public security organs and procuratorates shall promptly collect, secure, and examine evidence proving the identities of criminal suspects in accordance with the law, while courts shall thoroughly review and comprehensively verify such identity-related materials pertaining to defendants.

Second, requirements for review at the investigation stage are clarified. Public security organs shall verify suspects' identities by means such as comparisons through information systems, file information checks, and biometric data analysis. The guidelines specify that no criminal suspect’s identity may be confirmed without verification. In cases where criminal facts are clear and evidence is sufficient and conclusive, prosecution may proceed under the name provided by the suspect or defendant if their true identity remains undetermined.

Third, requirements for identity review at the prosecution stage are delineated. For cases transferred by public security organs for prosecution, procuratorates shall verify whether the indictment includes the suspect's identity information and whether supporting evidence is provided. In instances of discrepancies or absence of such evidence, procuratorates shall require public security organs to provide verification materials.

Fourth, requirements for review at the adjudication stage are set forth. For cases proceeding to adjudication, courts shall examine whether the indictment specifies the defendant's identity information and whether supporting evidence is provided. If no such evidence is included in the indictment, courts shall require procuratorates to provide it within three days. Furthermore, verified identity information such as the defendant's name, date of birth, and citizen identification number should be included in the judgment documents. Upon delivering these documents, courts shall verify the defendant's identity information.

Fifth, relevant collaborative mechanisms are established. The guidelines call for establishing a collaborative mechanism among public security organs, procuratorates and courts for verifying the identities of suspects and defendants. Emphasis is placed on standardizing the procedures for public security organs to share population registration information with other judicial authorities for verification purposes. If any discrepancies in identity information are discovered, they must be promptly reviewed and corrected. For final judgments or rulings that have taken legal effect but contain incorrect identity information, the court that issued the decision may rectify such errors by issuing a ruling. Where necessary, the correction may be made through adjudication supervision procedures, and procuratorates are authorized to file a protest or suggest a retrial in accordance with the law.