The repetition of extraordinary events may be dismissed as nothing more than coincidence or it may call for deeper reflection and a more rigorous explanation. The exposure of certain miscarriage of justice cases in China, such as those involving She Xianglin, Zhao Zuohai and Teng Xingshan are a case in point.

Following the disappearance of She's wife, Zhang Zaiyu, the discovery of a woman's body in a pond in the local township in Hubei Province led to the prosecution and conviction of She for her murder, aided in substantial measure by the defendant's “confession.” The calamitous error came to light when, 11 years later, Zhang reappeared having moved to Shandong Province and re-married in the intervening years. In bizarrely similar circumstances, Zhao Zuohai was convicted of the murder of a fellow peasant who had disappeared following their violent argument. The conviction, based on the later discovery of a headless corpse in a nearby well and the defendant's “confession” was ultimately declared erroneous when the “victim” turned up alive in their home village 11 years later. While the convicted “murderer” had avoided execution in both cases, luck was not on the side of Teng Xingshan. Teng Xingshan, who was said to have “confessed” on his own initiative, was executed with a bullet to the head for the murder of his “lover,” after the dismembered body of a young woman was found floating in the Mayang river. When the alleged victim re-appeared alive and well six years later, it emerged that not only were the two not lovers, they had not been acquainted at all.

It is with these and similar miscarriage of justice cases that He Jiahong's book is concerned. This is not, however, an ordinary “academic” treatment of the subject. As the author of well-known novels such as Hanging Devils and Black Holes, He has set himself the task of writing “an academic book with the flavour of a novel.” Accordingly, although his account is largely descriptive, drawing heavily on these cases which form the spine of the three parts of the book, the discussion is more wide-ranging with some excursions into history, reference to other miscarriages in China, limited empirical data, and discursive engagement with recent changes to China's criminal justice system through the new Criminal Procedure Law (2012).

Adopting an accessible, conversational style, He focuses on a number of factors which have contributed to the selected cases and other miscarriages of justice in China. These include: the setting of inappropriately tight deadlines for the solving of serious criminal cases; the holding of suspects in custody for extended and, often, unlawful periods (with suspects detained for up to five years pre-trial); the one-sided nature of evidence collection (with evidence collection designed only to reinforce the prosecution case and little or no defence activity); the undue emphasis placed upon confession evidence and the consequent resort by the police to the use of torture; the lack of external supervision of police investigations; the institutional alignment of police and prosecuting authorities; the vulnerability of state criminal justice institutions to “public opinion”; and the undercutting of formal laws by counter-incentives including an embedded system of guanxi.

The proposals for reform which flow from the weaknesses identified are both modest and, in the Chinese context, aspirational. These centre on moving the system and those who operate it away from undue emphasis on fighting crime and more towards protecting the rights of the accused, establishing a unified and clear standard of proof, and placing less emphasis upon “substantive justice” and more upon “procedural justice.” At a time when there is a crackdown on defence lawyers and open violation of law by state officials, the drivers for beneficial change seem detached from these ambitions. More generally, standard reform proposals can gain little foothold in a party-state where there is no system autonomy or independence for those who operate within criminal justice and where, accordingly, its legitimacy is heavily dependent upon “confessions” which ensure verdicts that accord with public opinion (itself subject to official manipulation) and Party interest.

The book demonstrates what a formidable task He Jiahong set himself, and any assessment must acknowledge that the approach adopted renders conventional evaluation difficult. While there is little here for the academic professional in terms of original research, criminal justice theory, re-assessment of a growing and already voluminous specialist literature or deep engagement with ongoing debates, the book is an easy read and will no doubt secure the wider general readership to which it is directed.