（Abstract）

The reform of the Chinese criminal justice system involves many issues in different aspects. The most important one is how to determine the objectives of the reform. During the reform process of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law in1996，the guiding ideas advanced by scholars mainly involved three types of relations：first，the relation between punishing crimes and protecting human rights；second，the relation between safeguarding procedural fairness and promoting judicial efficiency；third，the relation between keeping Chinese characteristics andlearning from foreign experiences. The balance theory is a leadingidea in handling the above relations.

The leading opinion among scholars on the issue of the relation between punishing crimes and protecting human rights is to pay equal attention to them or to keep a balance between them. The balance theory has played a positive role inrectifying a long-existing practical problem as found in the concepts and phenomena of “attaching greater importance to punishment and neglecting protection”or“attaching importance to substantive law while neglecting procedural law”. However，there are shortages in the comprehension of the balance theory：first，it prioritizes public interests，which blurs the differentiation between the protection of the majority and protection of the minority，weakening the significance of criminal procedures when protecting minorities；second，there is a lack of knowledge about the limitations of the balance theory. In criminal justice，the conflict between the punishment of crimes and the protection of human rights is inherent. The balance theory fails to provide a clear answer for thisproblem through its harmonizing and compromising attitude. Although the balance theory is based on balancing of punishment and protection，when starting from the promotion of human rights protection，this theory could impair the protection of human rights in the long run. A related concept to the balance theory is theno wrong punishment and no wrong release，which means to avoid convicting the innocentand releasing the guilty. This concept use the procedural results as the standard toevaluate the criminal justice system，and can have a great impact on some fundamental principles in modern criminal justice，such as the principle of presumptionof innocence. The traditional notion in the Chinese legal culture - that theinterests of the minority should submit to the interests of the majority - wouldmake the balance theory become a theory of primarily punishing crimes. The retrogression of the rights of lawyers in the reforms of the Chinese criminal justicesystem is an example. Thus，if there are no appropriate objectives and procedures，there cannot be a simple balance.

Fairness and efficiency are two big objectives of modern criminal justice，and between them exists a number of reciprocal relationships，because thedelayof justice is no justice. However，there are also a number of conflictsbetweenfairness and efficiency，furthermore，the conflicting nature surpasses the inclusive nature. Because criminal justice involves the limitation and deprivationoffreedom，property and even lives of citizens，procedural fairness is more important than efficiency in criminal justice，and the pursuit of efficiency should have the protection of fairness as a prerequisite. In recent years，the pursuitof procedural efficiency in some Western countries has influenced the ideas on criminal justice system reforms in China. The revised Criminal Procedure Law has added summary procedures，while some local procuratorial organs and courts are experimenting on adopting summary procedures in some cases that should be put on trial applying common procedures，and introducing sentencing rebates into judicial practice. However，the design of summary procedures does not take the willingness of the accused persons into consideration，and the practices mentioned aboveneglects the institutional context in China，all which could bring out unjust results. In comparison with some Western countries，rule of law in China is stillin its initial stage，where we should put procedural fairness above efficiency，not equally or otherwise.

Since the legal reforms in the late Qing dynasty，some scholars have triedto establish a kind of unique criminal justice system different from both the traditional system and the Western system. However，the ruthless reality is thatsome practices regarded as having special Chinese characteristics are facing critical challenges. When we think of the direction of the reform of the Chinese criminal justice system，we should take the international context，which is mainlythe requirement of globalization，and the domestic context，which is associatedwith the development of the economy and the goal to build a country under rule of taw into consideration. Under the international criminal justice standards，there are two types of modem criminal justice systems：inquisitorial system and adversary system. The ideal model would be a mixed system that was based on theChinese characteristics and bearing the merits of inquisitorial system and adversary system according to general notion. However，does the ideal model really exist？Even so，would it not be distorted by external conditions during the processof its operation？How can we ensure that the mixed model possesses the advantages and not the disadvantages of the other models？It is difficult to answer thosequestions. Two factors should be considered when a nation determines its modelof criminal procedure：first，the trend of criminal justice system development in the world；second，the practical needs for the criminal justice system development in that country. The reform of criminal justice in China was initially prompted by judicial practice，which perhaps can illustrate the practical basis forintroducing the adversary system in China. In the meantime，the signing of theCCPR by China means there are more factors of the adversary system to be absorbed. During the process of introducing foreign experiences，relevant background，conditions and corresponding measures need be carefully studied in order to avoidblind and simplified transplantation.

Overall，the reform of Chinese criminal justice system should avoid simplified and utilitarian solutions by tackling specific problems in the name of the balance theory. The key to the reforms is to establish a system where theprotection of human rights is placed at the core.

Edited by Otto Malmgren