893.044/10–1944
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 7.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Embassy’s despatch no. 2842 of August 7, 1944,35 on the subject of Chinese habeas corpus laws, and to enclose a translation36 prepared by the Embassy of Regulations Governing Special Criminal Procedure which were promulgated by the National Government on January 12, 1944, but have not yet been enforced.
Summary of Important Provisions.
Article 1 provides that all cases to which special criminal procedures have been applied and which have heretofore been handled by military agencies or courts martial shall come under the jurisdiction of the district courts, judicial organs of the district governments or the superior courts, except when the defendant is a member of the armed forces, and shall be adjudicated in accordance with these Regulations.
Article 3 states that all cases transferred from “judicial police offices” to courts shall be treated as though they had been brought through public prosecution.
Article 5 provides that no case once transferred may be recalled by the government authority making the transfer.
Article 7 states that appeals of decisions rendered in accordance with these Regulations shall not be permitted although applications for review may be made.
Article 9 states that all decisions imposing penalties of death or life imprisonment shall be submitted to the Supreme Court for review.
Article 28 provides that applications for retrial may, under certain conditions, be made.
Article 35 states that these Regulations shall be enforced for a period of three years. End of Summary.
One of the criticisms voiced concerning the enforcement of the Measures for the Protection of Personal Liberty (see reference despatch) was that cases relating to military affairs were exempted from the requirements that a warrant be produced and the reasons for the arrest be made known to the arrested and his relatives. Although the enforcement of the present Regulations would not entirely relieve this situation, it would, nevertheless, considerably narrow the present extensive jurisdiction of military authorities and courts martial over [Page 652] civilians and would in theory bring such cases under the direct jurisdiction of the appropriate judicial authorities.
It has been reliably reported to the Embassy that these Regulations will be officially enforced on November 12, 1944. While we are not sanguine of the possibility of their strict enforcement as long as the various Chinese secret service organizations are allowed to continue their Gestapo-like activities, we feel that these Regulations constitute a step in the right direction toward vesting the judicial power in the proper authorities.
Respectfully yours,