China forbids bypassing authorities to file complaints

A Chinese government regulation, made public on Wednesday, forbids citizens to bypass authorities to file complaints.

Central government departments will not take complaints about issues that should be handled by provincial governments or that are being processed by them, said Zhang Enxi, spokesman with the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, about the new regulation.

At local level, citizens should go to government departments that are authorized by the law to handle relevant issues and governments at higher levels will not take their complaints if they jump rank, according to the regulation, scheduled to take effect on May 1.

"The purpose of this regulation is to clarify the jurisdiction, regulate the procedure and improve the efficiency of handling petitions," Zhang said. "It is expected to help citizens file petitions in a stepwise manner."

The governments will also turn down petitions that fall in the authorities of legislative bodies and judicial departments.

However, a few exceptions are left at the central level. They include complaints about corrupt officials of provincial and central governments, petitions about issues that should be addressed across provinces and sectors, as well as those that are not properly handled by provincial governments.

The offices of "letters and calls" is a unique petitioning system installed inside China's administrations to help people express their opinions and solve problems.

The new regulation requires petition offices to follow protocol in taking citizens' petitions and record their cases in a national database.

Those that do not handle petitions properly and force citizens to turn to authorities of higher level will be warned and punished if causing serious outcomes, according to the document.