| The Chinese Criminal Procedural Law provides for the procedure of collecting evidence, but it contains hardly any provision on the procedure of transferring, safekeeping or authenticating of evidence. As a result, many cases can not be handled or are handled erroneously due to the inappropriate safekeeping of evidence. Studies have shown that the problem of safekeeping of evidence and the related problem of forensic evidence have become the second leading cause of wrongful conviction. In order to guarantee the authenticity of real evidences, most western countries have adopted strict rules on the chain of custody, which requires the establishment of a complete system for the recording of the whole process from collecting evidence at the investigation stage to producing evidence in court at the trial stage and that, apart from a few exceptions, anyone who has handled evidence must testify in court as to the transferring, safekeeping or authenticating of evidence. The system of chain of custody plays an extremely important role both in the regulation of the conduct of investigators and prosecutors in collecting, transferring and safekeeping evidence and in the examination and determination of evidence by judges and the defendants in court. In the future legislation, China should establish a system of rules on chain of custody by drawing on the experience of developed countries: every case handling person who has contact with evidences must strictly follow such rules and make detailed records on circumstances of collecting, transferring and safekeeping of evidence. In cases where the defendant or the judge raises question or doubt about the reliability of a piece of evidence, the persons who have contact with such evidence must testify in court as to the circumstances of collecting, transferring and safekeeping of the evidence. |
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