When is the Trial of a Criminal Case Postponed?

Therefore, to ensure objectivity, transparency, and fairness in the process of resolving the case, the Court will postpone the trial. After the postponement period, the case will be retried.

According to The Criminal Procedure Code 2003 (CPC 2003), the Trial Panel may postpone the trial in the following cases:

First instance trial:

* During the trial preparation stage:

- The defendant is absent with a legitimate reason;- The Prosecutor is absent or replaced without a substitute Prosecutor;- The defense lawyer is absent (if the presence of the defense lawyer is mandatory as stipulated in Clause 2 Article 57 of CPC 2003);- If the victim, civil plaintiff, civil defendant, person with related interests and obligations, or their legal representative is absent;- The witness is absent (in cases where the case has important issues);- The expert is absent.

* At the beginning of the trial:

- If at the beginning of the trial, the defendant has not received the indictment as prescribed in Clause 2 Article 49 and the decision to bring the case to trial within the time limit as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 182 of the CPC 2003, and if the defendant requests, the Trial Panel must postpone the trial (Article 201 CPC 2003);- The Trial Panel consults and considers if anyone requests a postponement of the trial.

Appellate trial:

The defense lawyer, person protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the litigant, appellant, person with related interests and obligations in the appeal, and protest are summoned to participate in the trial but are absent, leading to the postponement of the trial.

Supervisory trial:

At the supervisory trial of the Judicial Committee of the Provincial People's Court, the Judicial Committee of the Military Court of the military zone, or the Judicial Council of the Supreme People's Court, if when discussing the content of the protest, no opinion receives more than half of the total members of the Judicial Committee or Judicial Council voting in favor, the trial must be postponed.

Furthermore, CPC 2003 also stipulates that the postponement period should not exceed 30 days from the date of the decision to postpone the trial.

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