Chief Justice Zhou Qiang delivers a work report of the Supreme People's Court at the third plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
China's judicial organs pledged to draw lessons from wrongful convictions and prevent such cases amid efforts to advance rule of law, said a work report of the Supreme People's Court on Sunday.[Special Coverage]
"Wrongful convictions disgrace justice and the lessons are profound," according to the report to be delivered by Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at a plenary meeting of the National People's Congress annual session.
The report was distributed to the press ahead of the meeting.
A total of 1,076 defendants were found not guilty in China last year, it said. Courts at all levels intensified supervision over trials and rectified 1,376 criminal cases after retrials in 2016, the report said.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) also supervised problematic lawsuits, corrected mistakes, intensified supervision and rectified wrongful convictions to ensure fairness and justice in every case, according to the SPP work report to be delivered by Procurator-General Cao Jianming.
Procuratorates across the country will reflect on the lessons of loopholes during prosecution and improve the long-term mechanism of reporting, reviewing, supervision and compensation, the report said.
Last year witnessed the rectification of a case involving Nie Shubin, who was executed in 1995 for raping and murdering a woman on the outskirts of Shijiazhuang City in north China.
The second circuit court under the SPC revoked his previous verdict, ruling that the conviction had been based on insufficient evidence and unclear facts.
