CPC revises petition process

The CPC Political and Legal Affairs Committee is separating petitions related to legal and litigation affairs from regular cases by sending them to political and legal organs, in a move to reform the country's letters and calls system.

The move, listed as a main task for the year by the committee, aims to solve such cases through judicial channels to change the current situation that petitioners would rather trust higher ranking officials than the law.

At present, there is no clear distinction between petitions over disputes involving litigation and those which do not. These are currently presented to State and provincial-level bureaus of letters and calls by petitioners.

Provincial regions, including Gansu, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia and Guangdong, have been implementing the reform on a trial basis, local legal and political affairs agencies confirmed to the Global Times. It is expected to spread nationwide within the year, the Guangzhou-based Nandu Daily reported.

Local government will not accept petitions related to civil, business, administrative or criminal cases and litigations, reads the explanation given by the local agencies.

Those cases that have been transferred to judiciary organs will continue the process, and corrections will be applied to those eligible closed cases.

"Typically, people petition for unsatisfactory or wrongful rulings, but sometimes they also petition when cases are ongoing in the legal procedure, trying to exert some pressure to get their cases solved sooner," a court official surnamed Zhang from Tonghua, Jilin Province, told the Global Times.

According to an earlier guidance, a final legal conclusion will be given after proper legal procedures and reviews, and local authorities would not handle or report them to superior authorities if the involved parties petition again.

"It would help strengthen the authority of the law by sticking to a solid legal conclusion, and the reform could have a positive effect on taking petitions back into the judicial circle when the system is still in place," Yan Heyu, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times.

Wang Cailiang, a Beijing-based lawyer specializing in administrative law, said many petitions are caused by improper or even wrongful rulings, and the actual effect of the reform depends on the implementation of the justice rather than a mere slogan.

"Preventing wrongful sentences, correcting mistakes and broadening petition channels are important ways to regain public trust in the law," said Wang.

Zhang noted that political and legal affairs departments have to be cautious in intervening with the judicial justice while handling such petition cases, especially during an ongoing procedure. "Objective evaluation of the cases is essential, and the government should not evade responsibilities when it comes to compensation and aid," said Zhang.