Central Executive Committee Order No. 3

(February 1, 1932)

In order to safeguard the rights of combatants, commanders, and staff members in the Red Army and to maintain the iron discipline of the Red Army, this Executive Committee hereby promulgates the "Provisional Organizational Regulations for Military Tribunals of the Chinese Soviet Republic." These regulations are hereby issued and shall take effect from February 15, 1932. Upon receiving this order, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission shall forward it to Red Army units at all levels and local armed forces command headquarters, and organize military tribunals in accordance with the provisions of these regulations to administer all criminal adjudication within the Red Army. This order is hereby given.

Chairman of the Central Executive Committee: Mao Zedong
Vice Chairmen: Xiang Ying, Zhang Guotao
February 1, 1932

Provisional Organizational Regulations for Military Tribunals

(February 1, 1932)

Chapter I: General Principles

Article 1: All persons serving in armed units such as Red Army guerrilla forces, independent divisions, independent regiments, and Red Guard companies, whether military personnel or other staff members, who violate criminal law, military criminal law, or other laws, shall be tried by military tribunals, except where ordinary discipline is breached without involving unlawful acts.

Article 2: Unlawful acts committed by residents in combat zones, whether violating military criminal law or other laws, shall be tried by military tribunals. Enemy spies, internal traitors, and the like found in combat zones shall also be tried by military tribunals.

Article 3: All levels of Red Army tribunals must be organized in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.

Chapter II: Organizational System of Military Tribunals

Article 4: Military tribunals are divided into the following four types: 1. Primary Military Tribunals; 2. Frontline Primary Military Tribunals; 3. Senior Military Tribunals; 4. Supreme Military Tribunal Conference.

Article 5: Primary Military Tribunals shall be established within Red Army corps headquarters, division headquarters, military area command headquarters, and independent division headquarters. Frontline Primary Military Tribunals shall be established within the highest-level command headquarters in the combat zone.

Article 6: Senior Military Tribunals shall be established within the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.

Article 7: The Supreme Military Tribunal Conference shall be established within the Supreme Court.

Article 8: Primary Military Tribunals and Frontline Military Tribunals are both subordinate to the Senior Military Tribunal, and the Senior Military Tribunal is subordinate to the Supreme Court.

Chapter III: Staff of Military Tribunals

Article 9: Primary Military Tribunals shall form an adjudication committee consisting of one tribunal chief and two adjudicators. Senior Military Tribunals shall form an adjudication committee consisting of one tribunal chief, one deputy tribunal chief, and three adjudicators to guide all adjudication matters. The Supreme Military Tribunal Conference shall be organized by a number of persons designated by the Supreme Court, but must include representatives from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.

Article 10: The chief and adjudicators of Primary Military Tribunals shall be elected by the soldiers' representative assembly and approved by the Senior Military Tribunal. The chief and adjudicators of Senior Military Tribunals shall be nominated by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and approved by the Supreme Court.

Article 11: Commanders at any level of the armed forces shall not appoint the chiefs or adjudicators of military tribunals.

Article 12: The court for trials in Primary Military Tribunals shall be organized by three persons, with an adjudicator serving as the presiding judge and the other two serving as assessors. Assessors shall be used in first-instance cases tried by Senior Military Tribunals, but not in final-instance cases, which shall be organized by the tribunal chief and adjudicators.

Article 13: Assessors shall be elected by soldiers and replaced once every week. During their term of service, assessors may be relieved of their duties as soldiers, and upon completion of their term, they shall return to their original units for work.

Article 14: Military tribunals at all levels may appoint clerks and other staff members.

Chapter IV: Adjudication by Military Tribunals at All Levels and Their Procedures

Article 15: Primary Military Tribunals shall try cases of commanders below the rank of corps commander, combatants, and all staff members serving in the armed forces, serving as courts of first instance.

Article 16: Military tribunals of local armed forces shall try military cases of local armed forces throughout the province.

Article 17: Frontline Primary Military Tribunals shall try all cases in combat zones, but remain courts of first instance.

Article 18: Senior Military Tribunals are courts of final instance for cases appealed after judgment by Primary Military Tribunals, and are also courts of first instance for cases of commanders at or above the rank of corps commander, personnel directly subordinate to the Revolutionary Military Commission, and other staff members.

Article 19: The Supreme Military Tribunal Conference is the court of final instance for cases appealed after judgment by Senior Military Tribunals, and is also the trial organ for important military personnel at or above the rank of army group commander.

Article 20: Except for the Supreme Military Tribunal Conference, defendants in cases judged by military tribunals at all other levels have the right to appeal within the appeal period specified in the judgment. The appeal period is set from seventy-two hours to one month, to be determined by the court trying the case at the time.

Article 21: In all cases where the death penalty is imposed, even if the defendant does not appeal, the tribunal trying the case must submit the case file to the superior tribunal for approval.

Article 22: Trials shall be conducted in an open form, permitting soldiers and military staff members to observe. However, cases involving military secrets may be tried in a closed form, but the pronouncement of judgment must still be made public.

Article 23: Trials need not necessarily be held at the location of the military tribunal; they may be conducted at the location of the troops or the workplace of the offender.

Chapter V: Organization and Tasks of Military Procuratorates

Article 24: Primary Military Procuratorates and Senior Military Procuratorates shall be established at the locations of the primary and senior military tribunals.

Article 25: Primary Military Procuratorates shall have one chief, one deputy chief, and a number of procurators. Senior Military Procuratorates shall have one chief, two deputy chiefs, and a number of procurators, and may additionally employ technical staff such as clerks and secretaries.

Article 26: If commanders and political commissars at any level discover evidence of unlawful acts within the armed forces, they may arrest the offenders and deliver them to the appropriate military procuratorate for examination.

Article 27: Military procuratorates are organs for examining and conducting preliminary investigations of military offenders. All cases, except simple cases where the facts are already clear and no further examination is needed, shall first be referred to the military procuratorate at the corresponding level for examination.

--- Notes

(Note 1): Before the Supreme Court is established, cases that should be resolved by the Supreme Military Tribunal Conference shall be temporarily resolved by a court organized by the Provisional Central Government.


(Note 1): If cases are few, the personnel of military tribunals may be reduced. Primary Military Tribunals may have only one chief, and Senior Military Tribunals may have only one chief and one adjudicator.


(Note 1): In urgent combat situations, execution may be carried out first, and the entire case file shall be copied and sent afterward to the superior military tribunal for post hoc confirmation.


(Note 1): The staff of military procuratorates may be increased or reduced at any time according to the circumstances of the armed forces.


(Note 2): In Soviet areas not yet integrated with the Central Soviet Area, a Senior Military Tribunal may be established within the highest military committee of that Soviet area, with the authority to make final decisions on cases.


(Note 2): Simple cases of minor importance may be tried by a single adjudicator.