Xiao Yang, president of the Supreme People's Court, delivered a
report on the work of the Supreme People's Court to the First
Session of the
10th
National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, in
Beijing Tuesday morning. In his report, Xiao reviewed the work of
the Chinese people's courts over the past five years.
80,000 Corrupt Officials Brought to Justice
Xiao Yang said that the Chinese people's courts have over the past
five years closed 99,306 embezzlement and bribery cases and brought
83,308 corrupt officials to justice.
"They included 2,662 civil servants at and above the county
(sectional) level, 65 percent more than in the previous five
years," said Xiao.
These results, Xiao said, have testified to the intensified efforts
by the people's courts in dealing with job-related crimes and those
offering bribes to government functionaries.
In
addition, Xiao said, the people's courts have also meted out
punishments on cases of abusing powers and dereliction of official
duties that caused heavy losses to the state and collectives and on
officials directly responsible for major accidents due to
negligence.
Human Rights Better Protected in Administering Justice
Chinese people's courts have over the past five years paid special
attention to protecting human rights in the area of administering
justice, said Xiao Yang.
The chief justice said the people's courts in the country have paid
meticulous attention to establishing facts, evidence, procedures
and applicable laws in handling different cases and declared not
guilty 11,651 defendants in cases of private prosecution and 17,870
defendants in case of public prosecution.
The people's courts followed the principles of education, reform
and redemption in handling juvenile cases, awarding probation as
much as possible to underaged people who committed minor offenses
that would no longer bring harms to the society so as to encourage
them to repent and correct, Xiao said.
Meanwhile, Xiao said, Chinese courts have been very careful in
handling administrative cases, seeing to it that the lawful rights
and interests of litigants are protected and administrative
agencies comply with laws in performing their duties.
Xiao said that the people's courts closed 464,689 administrative
cases, 65 percent more than in the previous five years and handled
11,321 cases claiming for state compensation and judgments were
given to 4,013 cases in favor of citizens, accounting for 35
percent, making wronged citizens get due judicial relief.
According to the chief justice, people's courts have tried every
means to bring the judicial assistance system to perfection. They
allowed a grace period in the payment of charges or waive the
charges for litigants in difficulty, especially women, old people,
underaged people, disabled people and laid-off workers claiming for
alimony, endowments, social benefits and old age pension in
litigation cases. For defendants of publicly prosecuted cases, the
courts appointed lawyers for them to ensure the protection of their
rights.
The courts provided judicial assistance to 590,000 cases over the
past five years, involving 3.2 billion yuan, according to Xiao.
Foreign-related Cases Rising
Xiao Yang said that the people's courts across the country have
over the past five years tried and closed a total of 26,399
foreign-related cases, averaging an annual growth of four
percent.
"With the development of China's reform and opening-up, especially
after China has become a WTO member, the number of foreign-related
cases has been on the rise," said Xiao.
In
handling foreign-related cases, Xiao said, the Chinese courts have
strictly applied laws of China, honor the international
conventions, treaties and agreements to which China is a signatory
party and exercised to the full the jurisdiction of courts,
providing equal protection to the rights and interests of different
parties and litigant, said Xiao.
The Chinese courts have also paid close attention to cases
involving intellectual property rights (IPR) including
infringements of copyright, trademark right and patent right in the
development of new plant species, commercial secrets, computer
software and networks. They closed 23,636 such cases over the past
five years, 40 percent more than in the previous five years, Xiao
said.
Number of Dishonest Judicial Officers Declines
Xiao Yang said that the number of judges and court officers who
take the law and discipline in their own hands has dropped steadily
from 6.7 per thousand in 1998 to 2 per thousand over the past five
years.
Xiao attributed the decline to the persistent efforts by the
Supreme People's Court to implement the withdrawal system and
standardize the behavior of judges and to the establishment of the
system of investigating and affixing responsibilities for
law-violating trials.
He
said that the Supreme People's Court has formulated a number of
rules and regulations concerning the punishment of judges and other
judicial officers for violating the law and discipline, with
emphasis put on those who abuse their judicial authority and law
enforcement power to seek personal gains, take bribes and bend the
law.
The Supreme People's Court is resolute in purging the ranks of
judges and judicial officers of corrupt elements, Xiao
Stressed.
(China.org.cn March 11, 2003)