Court to better assist wrongly convicted in seeking compensation

China will issue legal documents this year to improve help for the wrongly convicted in seeking state compensation, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) revealed on Wednesday.

Those who are acquitted after being falsely convicted should be compensated in a timely manner, according to SPC deputy head Tao Kaiyuan.

Relevant departments should also cooperate with the SPC to jointly improve compensation work and ensure victims' rights to seek compensation, she added.

China's State Compensation Law took effect on Jan. 1, 1995 and was amended in 2010. The law aims to not only help individuals obtain compensation when the state infringes on their personal rights, but also help restore and enhance judicial credibility, according to Tao.

Chinese courts at all levels accepted more than 134,000 claims for state compensation in the past 20 years, with 93 percent processed, she said.

In a recent case, the parents of Huugjilt, who was wrongly convicted and executed in 1996 for murder and rape at age 18, received state compensation totaling 2.06 million yuan (about 336,000 US dollars). The deceased was announced innocent in December after the court reinvestigated the case.