SAN FRANCISCO (MARCH 7, 2016): Associate Professor Chen Taihe (陈泰和) of Guilin Electronic Technology University Law School, a practicing attorney and a leading voice for legal reform and the adoption of the jury system in China, was reunited with his family in San Francisco on Tuesday, March 1.

Professor Chen was one of more than 200 lawyers and activists interrogated or detained in a nationwide police action in mid-July. He was detained on July 12, 2015 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” “provoking a serious disturbance,” and “embezzlement.” He was released from detention and placed under residential surveillance in a designated location on August 12 and transferred to residential surveillance in his own residence on August 22.

Unlike residential surveillance in a designated location, residential surveillance in one’s own residence is a less taxing coercive measure. During the roughly six months he was under residential surveillance, Chen was allowed to move about Guilin, visit with friends, and make and receive calls to his wife in the United States. He was permitted to travel outside Guilin. He was required to report regularly to the police and to submit to interviews.

Chen, 45 years old, studied the jury system in the United Kingdom and, based on his study, published his book The Most Common Right (《最普通的权利》). In 2012, Chen visited Washington DC and participated in a judicial exchange program at the invitation of the Department of State. In October 2013, at the invitation of retired Chief Judge of the Maui Second Circuit of Hawaii Shackley F. Raffetto, Chen led a group of Chinese lawyers to visit Hawaii for a series of exchanges with judges, including Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and leading lawyers. They observed a complete jury trial over a two-day period.

A short time before departing for the United States, Chen was informed by the Guilin police department that charges against him would not be pursued and that he would be allowed to travel to the United States to reunite with his family. He applied for and quickly received a new Chinese passport, as well as an American visa.

Dui Hua worked with Chinese officials and American diplomats to help bring about this result. It expresses its gratitude to everyone who helped make this important humanitarian gesture possible.

Dui Hua has been authorized by Professor Chen to release the following statement:

“I am grateful to the Guilin police for dropping the charges against me and allowing me to be reunited with my family in the United States. I would also like to thank my American friends who helped make this possible.

I sincerely hope that the Chinese government will also show clemency to those lawyers and citizens who have been arrested for subversion and inciting subversion.

I intend to resume my work promoting the adoption of the jury system in China, and look forward to the day when China is a free country that respects individual rights and the rule of law.

A society based on dialogue is superior to a society based on conflict. I hope that China will tolerate more dissenting opinions, to the mutual benefit of the government and the people it governs.”



旧金山 （2016年3月7日）： 桂林电子科技大学法学院陈泰和副教授，执业律师，呼吁在中国进行司法改革并采纳民决团（陪审团）制度的主要倡导者，3月1日在旧金山与他的家人重聚团圆。



陈，45岁，在英国研究民决团制度并以此为基础出版了专著《最普通的权利》。2012年他应美国国务院之邀访问了华盛顿参加一个司法交流项目。2013年，应退休的夏威夷州茂宜（Maui）第二巡回法院首席法官 Shackley F. Raffetto的邀请，陈教授带领一批律师与包括夏威夷州最高法院首席大法官 Mark Recktenwald 在内的美国法官和重要律师进行交流访问，期间观察了一个持续两天完整的民决案庭审。








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