Fight stepping up against corruption in courts(2)

Raising awareness

As part of the fight against graft in the judiciary, Chinese courts held 2,696 discussions with employees who were considered to be in danger of going astray and reviewed problematic officers via 3,929 questionnaires last year, according to the top court.

Typical violators and cases were also circulated to each court regularly to raise awareness of the dangers of flouting the rules, it said.

"It's sensible to reveal the violations in a timely manner, as judicial transparency is effective to keep the team cleaner and prevent it from making mistakes," said Wang from Peking University.

Every judicial procedure and verdict has been put online. Litigants can trace the stages of their case and inspect via their smartphones or courts' websites whether judges make their judgments carefully, Wang said.

"Disclosure is the best way to restrict power. Restriction or prevention will be helpful in reducing the breeding ground for corruption," he said.

Since Zhou was named the top judge, all evidence and opinions about cases have been required to be made public in trials, which have helped prevent some judges from abusing their power to solve disputes privately to a large extent, he said.

"Judicial transparency is not only for residents to understand what courts do every day. The more important thing is to reduce and avoid the possibility for corruption as much as possible," he said.

Zhang Xuequn, president of the Yunnan High People's Court, agreed.

"We have the power to help residents solve disputes and hear cases. As judges, we must first respect the law and fight corruption via effective ways," Zhang said.

The Supreme People's Court also allocated 911 officers to courts in 21 provinces to be disciplinary inspectors, and carried out its own inspections in six high people's courts.

At the same time, the top court received 25,330 reports about judicial graft via its network and big data and has carried out inspections for 125 of them because of their urgency and importance.

Wang from Hainan University approved the moves, but he suggested that punishments for the violators should be transparent and the inspections in courts should be extended to prosecuting bodies.

'The best way'

According to the top court's report, of the 863 violators who abused power involving case hearing and law enforcement, only 138 finally stood trial, "or in other words, most of them received disciplinary punishments, such as removal from the Party or work post," he said.

While it is encouraging to see how those who break laws and discipline are being exposed, the disclosure is far from enough for those who end up with only disciplinary punishment, he said.

"Openness is the best way to address questions from the public over such cases, so it is necessary to expose the violators regularly," he said.

The penalties should also not be too light or it will fail to serve as a warning to others, he said.

Tightened rules on parole show results

Using money and personal relations to reduce a prison sentence or gain parole used to be commonplace, but no instance of such behavior has been reported since the authorities rolled out measures last year to fight it.

In March of last year, the Supreme People's Court issued guidelines focusing on transparency for procedures in reducing penalties and approving parole.

Chinese courts are also required to disclose applications and related materials about cutting a sentence or getting parole within five days after they file a case, according to the guidelines.

Every case should be heard in public, especially those involving gang-related and financial offenders or the possible abuse of a position of authority, it said.

Related policies have also been tightened, the court said, adding that the moves are aimed at rooting out corruption in the judiciary and improving its openness.

The country's courts tackled 575,018 commutation cases, in which a sentence is reduced, last year, a 5.26 percent drop year-on-year, and they heard 37,254 parole cases, a decline of 23.8 percent year-on-year, according to the top court's work report.

"No one is above the law," said Zhou Qiang, the president of the court.

Under the law, criminals who are pregnant or hospitalized for serious illnesses can serve part of their sentences out of prison. The provision has sometimes been extended to permanent stays outside prison.

Yu Zhigang, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, spoke highly of the tightened rules. "They can improve fairness and judicial credibility," Yu said.