Judicial reforms were smoothly pushed forwards to improve transparency of judicial agencies, streamline legal proceedings under the principles such as "innocence until proven guilty" and guarantee lawyers' rights.
Efforts were made to correct wrong convictions and ensure judicial departments to perform their duties independently in accordance with the law.
In December 2013, China abolished the system of reeducation through labor.
In 2015, about 30,000 imprisoned criminals in four categories were pardoned under an amnesty.
The latest revision to the Criminal Law, adopted in 2015, removed the death penalty for nine crimes, reducing the number of crimes on which the death penalty is applicable from 55 to 46.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
From 2012 to 2015, the government canceled or adjusted 12 items subject for administrative approval about religious affairs.
In the four years, a total of 200 million yuan (30.53 million U.S.dollars) was spent on renovation and expansion projects of religious facilities in Tibet.
By the end of 2015, 87 temples in Yushu of northwest China's Qinghai Province damaged in a major earthquake in 2010, were fully rebuilt.
From 2012 to 2015, the government allocated nearly 15 million yuan to support and assist repair and preservation of mosques and historic religious sites.
Religious workers have been fully covered by social security programs. By 2013, 96.5 percent of them have had medical insurance and 89.62 percent have had pension schemes.
JOINING INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS EFFORT
From 2012 to 2015, China has maintained constructive dialogues with several treaty bodies on its implementation of international conventions about human rights.
In 2014, China participated and passed the second round of the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. It also took an active part in multilateral human rights meetings hosted by the third committee of UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council.
From 2012 to 2015, the country held more than 20 human rights dialogues with the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Switzerland, as well as more than 10 human rights consultations and exchanges with countries including Russia, Brazil, Pakistan and Cuba.
