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China's chief justice said in Beijing on Tuesday that the efforts of Chinese courts in 2006 to crack down on criminal activities of various kinds helped safeguard national security and social stability, and promoted human rights protection.
In 2006, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) handled a total of 3,668 cases involving a variety of crimes, up 14.77 percent over the previous year, said SPC President Xiao Yang in a report on the judicial work, delivered to the national legislature for examination.
Local courts at all levels heard and concluded 8,105,007 cases in 2006, an increase of 2.07 percent year on year. Of the total, 2, 323 case involved state compensation amounting to 34.84 million yuan (US$4.47 million), said Xiao.
Courts across the country in 2006 tried and concluded 245,254 criminal cases involving felonies like explosion, murder, robbery, rape and kidnapping, and sentenced 340,715 criminals convicted in such cases.
According to the top judge, Chinese judges in the past year also handled 23,733 cases of embezzlement, bribery and dereliction of duty, sentencing 825 convicted government officials above the county level, including 9 provincial- and ministerial-level officials.
Corruption and commercial bribery have become a prominent social problem in China, arousing public anger and leading to the downfall of a number of high-ranking officials, including former head of National Statistics Bureau Qiu Xiaohua and former director of State Food and Drug Administration Zheng Xiaoyu.
Chen Liangyu, former Party chief of Shanghai, China's economic center, was also put under investigation for his involvement in a major social security fund scandal, in which 3.7 billion yuan (US$475 million) of the fund was found to be misused.
One of the most notorious convicted officials was Ding Xinfa, a former provincial procurator-general of eastern Jiangxi Province, who was sentenced to 17 years for bribery and embezzlement.
The disgraced list also included Li Dachang, former vice governor of southwest Sichuan Province, who was sentenced to seven-years in prison for power abuse.
Courts across the country in 2006 also tried and concluded 31,582 cases involving the manufacture, trafficking and sale of narcotics, sentencing 37,256 criminals convicted in such cases.
In the area of intellectual property rights protection, Xiao said that Chinese courts concluded 17,769 cases involving intellectual property rights infringement in 2006, with 3,508 people convicted and sentenced.
"Among all criminals convicted in 2006, 153,724 received sentences from five years and above in prison to life imprisonment and death penalty," he told the nearly 3,000 lawmakers attending the annual full session of the National People's Congress.
Xiao said that Chinese courts at all levels, in their efforts to respect and safeguard human rights, pronounced 1,713 criminal defendants innocent in 2006, following the principle of meting out penalty to the guilty and setting the innocent free in time in accordance with the law.
Experiment on granting relief fund to victims of criminal cases and their relatives went on smoothly, he said.
Statistics from the 10 higher people's courts carrying out the pilot program showed they in total issued 7.80 million yuan in the relief fund to 378 victims of criminal cases and their relatives in 2006.
One of the major developments in the field of human rights protection lies in the reform of the mechanism to decide on death penalties.
Xiao said the supreme court took back the power to review and ratify all death penalty cases as of January 1, 2007, ending a 26- year practice of letting courts at lower levels decide on part of such cases.
To make lawsuits affordable to all people, Chinese courts have provided timely judicial assistance to litigants with financial difficulties, Xiao said.
As a result, 282,582 people were allowed to delay or reduce the payment of court costs, or even totally exempted from the costs in 2006, with a total of 1.2 billion yuan spared for them, he noted.
The top judge also reported a 4.71 percent drop in the number of letters, visits and calls of complaints and petitions the supreme court received from the general public in 2006 compared to the previous year. The supreme court received 140,511 such letters, visits and calls in the year.
Meanwhile, local courts across the country received 3,548,504 such letters, visits and calls, a decrease of 11.18 percent year on year.
The supreme court also intensified its efforts to fight corruption among judges and promote judicial justice, said the top judge.
"A total of 292 judges were found to have abused power for personal interests in 2006, and 109 of them were given criminal penalty according to law," he said.
In 2006, Chinese courts at all levels handled 7,375 maritime cases involving 4.445 billion yuan, giving equal protection to the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign nationals involved, said the SPC president.
The courts also concluded 23,313 cases involving foreign nationals and residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in 2006, an increase of 16.39 percent year on year, he added.
Apart from the courts' achievements, the top judge also raked up problems pestering the country's judicial work, such as unfair judgment and failure in providing timely protection to the legitimate rights and interests of some litigants who had won their lawsuits.
He attributed the problems to the poor capability of some judges, a lack of professional ethics among some others, and the " malpractice of a small handful of judges and senior court officials".
"We will take even stronger measures to make improvement" and " guarantee the power of judgment is exercised correctly", said Xiao, adding that the supreme court will strive to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of all litigants are well protected and the professional quality of Chinese judges as a whole improved substantially.
Facts and figures: China's judicial work in 2006
The following are the main facts and figures about China's justice system in 2006 revealed in Xiao Yang's work report:
- A total of 3,668 cases involving a variety of crime were handled by the supreme court in 2006, up 14.77 percent over the previous year.
- Local courts at all levels heard and concluded 8,105,007 cases in 2006, up 2.07 percent over 2005, including 798,572 criminal cases, or 9.85 percent of the total; 4,831,043 civil cases, or 59.61 percent; and 125,976 administrative cases, or 1.55 percent.
- The local courts in 2006 made first-instance trials on 701, 379 criminal cases and sentenced 889,042 convicted criminals.
- Courts across the country in 2006 tried and concluded 245, 254 criminal cases involving felonies like explosion, murder, robbery, rape and kidnapping, and sentenced 340,715 criminals convicted in such cases.
- Courts across the country heard 23,733 cases of embezzlement, bribery and dereliction of duty in 2006, sentencing 825 convicted government officials above the county level, including 9 provincial- and ministerial-level officials.
- Courts across the country in 2006 tried and concluded 31,582 cases involving the manufacture, trafficking and sale of narcotics, while sentencing 37,256 convicted criminals.
- The Chinese courts in 2006 heard and concluded 17,769 cases of intellectual property rights infringement, including 2,277 criminal cases in which 3,508 people were convicted and sentenced, and 14,056 civil cases and 1,436 administrative cases.
- Among all criminals convicted in China in 2006, 153,724 received sentences from five years or longer in prison up to life imprisonment and death penalty.
- Chinese courts at various levels in 2006 pronounced 1,713 criminal defendants innocent, following the principle of meting out penalty to the guilty and setting the innocent free in time in accordance with the law.
- Courts at all levels in 2006 heard and concluded 23,313 cases involving foreign nationals and residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 16.39 percent year on year.
- The supreme court received 140,511 letters, visits and calls of complaints and petitions in 2006, a drop of 4.71 percent year on year, while local courts across the country received 3,548,504 such letters, visits and calls, a decrease of 11.18 percent.
- In 2006, 292 judges were found to have abused power for personal interests, and 109 of them were given criminal penalty according to law.
- The supreme court took back the power to review and ratify all death penalty cases as of January 1, 2007, ending a 26-year practice of letting courts at lower levels decide on part of such cases.
Prosecutors serve social, economic development
China's procurator-general said in Beijing on Tuesday that Chinese procuratorial organs approved arrests of 891,620 criminal suspects and prosecuted 999,086 people in 2006, which helped create a sound legal environment for the country's economic and social development.
"We have continued to give priority to maintaining social stability and cracking down on criminal offenses," said Jia Chunwang, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), in a report on the SPP's work in the past year.
To strike hard on mafia-like criminal cliques, the procuratorial organs issued a total of 18,446 arrest warrants to people suspected of getting involved in such cliques, and prosecuted 8,343 such people, Jia told the nearly 3,000 lawmakers attending the annual full session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.
A number of government employees were investigated and punished for having served as a "safety umbrella" for the criminal cliques, said the procurator-general, without giving the specific number.
The procuratorial organs also strengthened judicial protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) last year, approving the arrests of 3,729 people suspected of IPR violations and prosecuting 3,634, an increase of 16.7 percent and 12.6 percent respectively over the previous year.
The procuratorial organs also approved the arrests of 7,974 people suspected of damaging the environment and resources, and prosecuted 12,240, up 15.4 percent and 24.8 percent respectively, said Jia.
According to the top prosecutor, 40,041 government employees were probed by prosecutors in 2006 for 33,669 cases involving corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty, of whom 29,966 were brought to court.
The procuratorial organs investigated a total of 18,241 major job-related criminal cases, 623 of them each involving graft and bribery of more than 1 million yuan (US$128,000).
Last year, Jia said, Chinese prosecutors investigated 2,736 government officials above the county level, including 202 at the prefecture level and six at the provincial or ministerial level.
In a report on the work of the Supreme People's Court delivered to the lawmakers prior to Jia's report, top judge Xiao Yang said Chinese courts sentenced 825 government officials above the county level, including 9 provincial- and ministerial-level officials, after convicting them of job-related crimes in the past year.
The procuratorial organs also collaborated with the police to apprehend 1,670 fugitives suspected of job-related crimes in 2006, a sharp increase of 137.6 percent year on year, Jia said.
Crackdown on commercial bribery was intensified in 2006, he said, adding that a total of 9,582 commercial bribery cases involving government employees were investigated, involving more than 1.5 billion yuan.
As a result of tightened legal supervision over the litigation process, the procuratorial organs in 2006 corrected illegally prolonged detention cases involving 233 people, and lodged 3,161 protests against wrong criminal verdicts of the court.
"A total of 2,987 judicial workers were probed for power abuse and taking bribes," said the procurator-general.
Jia spoke highly of the convening of first annual conference of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities ( IAACA) in China last October.
The SPP was one of the sponsors for the launching of the IAACA, which would play as a "new platform for our country's international cooperation in the fight against corruption," Jia told the lawmakers.
The procuratorial organs handled a total of 477,596 petitions submitted through letters and visits from the general public in 2006.
Jia went on to point out problems that remain in the work of Chinese procuratorial organs.
"The role of procuratorial organs in exercising legal supervision was not brought into full play, while some problems concerning unfair law enforcement remained unsettled," he said.
Jia promised that this year the procuratorial organs will earnestly perform their duty of legal supervision and put themselves under the scrutiny of people's congresses at all levels and the whole society.
Facts and figures: China's procuratorial work in 2006
The following are the major facts and figures revealed in the report on China's procuratorial work in 2006 delivered by Jia Chunwang, procurator-general of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate, to the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress, here on Tuesday:
-- In 2006 Chinese procuratorial organs approved the arrests of a total of 891,620 suspects for a variety of crimes, and prosecuted 999,086 people.
-- The procuratorial organs issued a total of 18,446 arrest warrants to people suspected of involving in mafia-like criminal cliques, with 8,343 prosecuted.
-- The procuratorial organs approved the arrests of 3,729 people suspected of intellectual property rights violation, and prosecuted 3,634, up 16.7 percent and 12.6 percent respectively, from a year earlier.
-- The procuratorial organs approved the arrests of 7,974 people suspected of damaging the environment and resources, and prosecuted 12,240, up 15.4 percent and 24.8 percent.
-- A total of 40,041 government employees were probed by prosecutors in 2006 for corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty, of whom 29,966 were brought to court.
-- The procuratorial organs investigated a total of 18,241 key job-related criminal cases, 623 of them each involving graft and bribery of more than 1 million yuan (US$128,000).
-- Chinese prosecutors investigated 2,736 government officials above the county level, including 202 at the prefecture level and six at the provincial or ministerial level.
-- A total of 9,582 commercial bribery cases involving government employees were investigated, involving more than 1.5 billion yuan.
-- The procuratorial organs corrected cases of illegally prolonged detention involving 233 people, and lodged 3,161 protests against wrong criminal verdicts of the court.
-- A total of 2,987 judicial workers were probed for power abuse and taking bribery.
-- The procuratorial organs handled a total of 477,596 petitions submitted through letters and visits from the general public in 2006.
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