China's prisoners no longer dressed to oppress

For those who have been inside a Chinese courtroom, the appearance of criminal defendants is often a cause for a raised eyebrow or two.

Judges, prosecutors and attorneys have all have a fair choice of clothes, but the defendants - yet to be convicted of anything - are usually paraded in dull, pajama-style jail uniforms; an unsubtle emphasis of their status in proceedings.

The Criminal Procedure Law says that no person shall be found guilty without being judged so by a People's Court. The shamefully shabby appearance of defendants is a stark reminder that full and equal justice is still some way off.

All that is about to change. Obliging criminal defendants and appellants wear uniforms of detention facilities will soon be a thing of the past, according to the Supreme People' s Court (SPC).

New measures announced on Thursday will change much more than just defendants' clothes. A wide range of new rules sets out to strengthen professionalism and independence in the courts.

A new mechanism for nominating and appointing of judges will focus on legal knowledge, background and experience. This should bring about a more qualified and vibrant legal community, well equipped to earn and retain the trust of the Chinese people.

SPC circuit courts, trans-regional courts and keeping records of attempts by outsiders to interfere in cases will all help courts become truly independent and rise above the meddling of local vested interests and individual officials.

During his first month as general secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping promised to bring about rule of law in China and has since made it one of the four strategic pillars in his leadership.

These reforms need to work. Empty words which no one obeys and mechanisms which no one adheres to will not suffice. With the annual legislative sessions only a week away, and the rule of law firmly at the top of Xi's agenda, Thursday's SPC announcement can only bode well for the future of Chinese justice.