Judicial Reform In China – A Step Forward

Xinhua the PRC’s official state media reports that China’s judiciary have taken a step forward by stndardising penalty measurement


This is what they are reporting..

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/20/c_13740514.htm

“A fellow inmate stole the same amount of money as I did. He received a jail term of five years, but I got six and a half years. I’ll appeal to this sentence,” Liu said in disappointment.

The incident struck the judge deeply and made her think of how courts throughout the country could get rid of the influence of different localities and avoid giving varying punishments for the same crimes.

To address the phenomenon, which had already triggered public outcry, and to promote standardized penalty measurement, Chinese courts adopted a series of steps to ensure uniform standards for sentencing criminals.

On Oct. 1 last year, two documents that instruct judges on uniform procedures for sentence measurements were put into use in all Chinese courts. The directive was a major reform of the country’s legal system regarding criminal prosecution.

According to the new procedures, advice on penalty measurements from prosecutors were introduced. This includes the types and scopes of punishment and the rules for implementation.

Also, the courts are allowed to organize public prosecutors, the parties involved, their defenders and legal representatives, to offer their own advice on penalty measurements so as to avoid arbitrary sentences.

The move had positive effects as the rate of appeals dropped significantly, according to the Supreme People’s Court.

China had been trying to reform its judicial system by enhancing supervision of the judicial and law enforcement organs and adopting a more humane approach and person-centered care for both convicts and victims.

SUPERVISION ON POWER

China’s police and judicial organs ordered an overhaul of prisons and detention centers in 2009 to put an end to the unnatural deaths of prisoners following a suspicious inmate death in the southwestern Yunnan Province.

In the nationwide campaign, prosecutors had found 2,207 detention house bullies and prosecuted 123 for suspected crimes.

In addition, authorities also penalized 166 policemen for negligence and malfeasance and seven prosecutors for ineffective supervision.

Authorities in a detention center in Yunnan said 24-year-old inmate Li Qiaoming had died while playing hide-and-seek in February 2009. An inquiry concluded that three other inmates had beaten Li to death.

Beatings and other irregularities in China’s detention facilities have come under close public scrutiny after a string of “unnatural” deaths occurred over the past two years.

In March last year, Chinese authorities issued guidelines on the management of detention centers to better protect the rights of detainees and reduce second-time crimes through enhanced education.

The guideline also banned law enforcement personnel from seizing or confiscating the properties of detainees. This protects detainees against insult, corporal punishment or maltreatment.