Courts test new ground in year of change(2)

Convictions overturned

Along with testing new communication tools, courts have also made headlines for overturning several wrongful convictions over the past 12 months.

In May, Zhang Gaoping and his nephew Zhang Hui were each awarded 1.1 million yuan ($180,000) in compensation after their 2003 convictions for rape and murder were quashed. DNA evidence proved their innocence at a March appeal hearing in Anhui province.

Zhang Zhenfeng, a farmer from Henan province, also saw his burglary and rape conviction from 2007 overturned in September after it was discovered a police officer had concealed vital evidence that cleared his name.

Renmin University professor Chen said he hopes to see more efforts in checking the legitimacy of verdicts and correcting wrongful convictions, so that "everyone can feel there is justice in each case".

The vow to end China's controversial laojiao — reeducation through labor — system, which since the 1950s has allowed authorities to sentence people without trial for up to three years, has also been a major talking point.

The punishment was mostly used for minor offenses, such as causing a public disturbance.

However, media attention intensified in July when Tang Hui was awarded 2,941 yuan in compensation after suing authorities in Yongzhou, Hunan province, for sentencing her to laojiao for petitioning. She had repeatedly called for harsher prison sentences for the men convicted of raping her daughter.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, approved the proposal to end laojiao in December, with facilities set to close or be converted into drug rehabilitation centers and prison units.

Many laojiao centers have already released all their inmates, regardless of how much time they had left to serve.

Guaranteeing quality

If "transparency" was the buzzword in courts last year, experts appear to agree in 2014 it should be "independence".

The Supreme People's Court is expected to announce a reform that will separate the judiciary from administration, identified as a key task at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held in November.

For years, courts have depended on financing from local governments, meaning they sometimes had to get administrative approval for a verdict. The reform will aim to prevent authorities affecting court decisions, financing and management.

Legal professionals and academics have universally welcomed the move.

"In the past, our courts ... often ploughed areas they shouldn't and left their own fields fallow. But last year started to see a difference," said Fu Yulin, a law professor at Peking University.

She said the emphasis now is firmly on guaranteeing the quality of trials and judgments.

Yet courts still need to strengthen the awareness of independence among judges, she added, as links between individuals in the judicial and administrative spheres will remain for some time.