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Is China entertaining a Miranda rights clause of their own? (via: ChinaDaily)

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

These words, familiar to many from Hollywood movies or cops-and-robbers TV shows, could be uttered by Chinese police if an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law, scheduled for October, is approved.

"There's little debate over whether to include the stipulation that suspects shall not be forced to admit guilt," Chen Ruihua, a law professor at Peking University involved in the amendment of the law, said. "If approved, it means that suspects will have the right to keep silent in interrogations."

Chen Guangzhong, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law who also participated in drafting the amendment, said legislators were also considering whether to allow lawyers to be present during the whole interrogation process.

A draft amendment the All- China Lawyers Association (ACLA) submitted last month to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, included both stipulations.

The existing Criminal Procedure Law, amended in 1997, requires suspects to truthfully answer investigators' questions during interrogations. It also stipulates that lawyers are allowed in the case only after the first interrogation.