Man Imprisoned for 933 Days After Robbery Conviction Reduced to Theft, State Compensation Claim Rejected
In November 2023, Han Yu was released from detention after his robbery conviction was reduced to theft. He had been imprisoned for over 3 years, far exceeding his final 9-month sentence. His requests for state compensation were rejected, highlighting gaps in China’s State Compensation Law.
On November 29, 2023, Han Yu walked out of a detention center after his conviction for robbery was reduced to theft. For “robbing 126 yuan”, he had been convicted of robbery three times by the People’s Court of Lixin County, Anhui Province, and sentenced to 11 years, 4 years, and 10 years respectively. After the final judgment changed the conviction to theft, Han’s sentence was reduced to nine months. By this point, he had already been detained for over three years, far exceeding his sentence.
Earlier this year, Han applied to the Lixin Court and the Bozhou Intermediate Court for state compensation, citing his 933 days of excessive detention. However, his requests were rejected. Professor Wu Hongyi from China University of Political Science and Law explained that the provisions of the State Compensation Law regarding the scope of criminal compensation are based on the principle of “compensation for unjust cases”. This means compensation is only granted when the defendant is found innocent, while a reduction from a serious crime to a lesser one still implies guilt and does not qualify for state compensation under current provisions.
Several legal experts believe the State Compensation Law should be further improved. When judicial procedures infringe upon the rights of the parties involved, appropriate compensation should be granted. “This is a manifestation of the progress of the rule of law and the direction of its development.”
The key dispute in Han’s case was whether he pressed on the elderly victim’s chest, and if this action was sufficient to suppress resistance. However, this alleged pressing was only supported by Han’s own confession, with no other evidence. Han later denied pressing the victim when appealing to the Bozhou Intermediate Court, which found the “facts unclear and evidence insufficient.” The victim, Xiang Xueyi, also stated Han was not the one who robbed him.
Despite the case being sent back for retrial twice by higher courts due to unclear facts and insufficient evidence, the Lixin Court still convicted Han of robbery and sentenced him to 10 years in the third trial on September 22, 2023. Han appealed again to the Bozhou Intermediate Court.
On November 29, 2023, the Bozhou Intermediate Court issued a judgment changing the conviction to theft and sentencing Han to nine months. He was finally released that day after the case had dragged on for nearly three years. The intermediate court’s judgment was reasonable, as the evidence supporting robbery was inadequate, relying only on the defendant’s inconsistent confession without corroboration.
China’s State Compensation Law has undergone two amendments in 2010 and 2012 since its first version in 1994, but has not been revised. The 2012 version still references an outdated article number from the 2012 Criminal Procedure Law, which has since been amended in 2018, causing inconsistencies. Experts propose that provisions on compensation for excessively long detention due to serious crimes being reduced to lighter ones should be added in the next amendment of the State Compensation Law, which is expected to occur alongside the upcoming major revision of the Criminal Procedure Law.
In Han Yu’s case, while his lengthy excessive detention merits state compensation from the perspective of safeguarding citizens' lawful rights and upholding judicial justice, current laws make it nearly impossible for him to obtain redress, revealing the urgent need for legislative improvements.