V. Protecting the Basic Rights of Citizens in Accordance with the Law
The CPC has integrated law-based governance with human rights protection, promoting both throughout the whole process of socialist rule of law. In advancing law-based governance, sound legislation has created a legal system to protect human rights, strict law enforcement has fostered a good law-based environment for human rights protection, and judicial justice has provided an effective channel for judicial remedy in the field of human rights. A sound system of intra-Party regulation has been formed based mainly on the Party Constitution and supplemented by other intra-Party rules, which is most effective in fighting corruption and safeguarding people’s interests.
1. Improving the Legal System to Protect People's Basic Rights
Under the leadership of the CPC and based on the Constitution, a Chinese socialist system of laws has taken shape, providing a relatively complete legal system to protect human rights. As of April 2021, there were 277 laws in force in China, including the Constitution and related laws, civil and commercial law, administrative law, economic law, social law, criminal law and procedural law related to litigation and non-litigation. The Civil Code plays an important role in equal protection of people’s rights and advancing the cause of human rights in such areas as life and health, property, people’s wellbeing and human dignity. The Law on Promotion of Basic Medical and Health Care, the Food Safety Law, the Law on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases and the Law on Physical Culture and Sports include provisions to protect citizens’ rights to life and health. The Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law provide the principles of legality, presumption of innocence, and exclusion of evidence obtained by illegal means, explicitly banning forced confessions. The Legislation Law, the Administrative Compulsion Law and the Law on Administrative Penalties follow the principle of strictly confining any compulsory measures and penalties involving personal freedom within the precise scope of the relevant laws. The Electoral Law, the Labor Law and the Education Law have incorporated into the protection system the citizens’ rights to vote, to be elected, to work and to access education.
2. Applying Rule of Law in Governance to Safeguard the Basic Rights of the People
China has made efforts to strengthen law-based governance and build a government that is open, impartial, clean, efficient and honest, with properly defined functions, statutory powers and responsibilities, and strict law enforcement. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have released the Implementation Outline for Building a Law-based Government (2015-2020) and the Plan on Developing the Rule of Law in China (2020-2025) and other documents, putting forward measures and ideas for government functions, administrative institutions, administrative decisions, administrative law enforcement, and thinking in terms of the rule of law, thus effectively ensuring that people enjoy their basic rights.
Administrative power is constrained within the perimeter of the law. China has established a principle under which administrative bodies must not take any action that is not mandated by law. It has completed reform of the administrative structure, and prohibited any exercise of power not provided for by law, or any illegal use of power. The state has issued regulations on enacting normative documents and supervising and managing the implementation of such documents, and regulations on major administrative decision-making processes. It is prescribed that all government departments should employ legal advisers and government lawyers. China has improved its procedural standards for administrative law enforcement, and established a system of benchmarks for administrative discretion. It has developed systems to conduct investigations and collect evidence in administrative law enforcement, to keep any parties concerned informed, to manage the revenues from fines and confiscation, and to connect administrative law enforcement with criminal justice. The state has established public notification of administrative law enforcement, a recording system throughout the whole process of law enforcement, and a legal review of major law enforcement decisions. It has expanded the scope of hearings, and defined the effectiveness of hearing procedures. It has promoted non-mandatory law enforcement, carried out humane and flexible law enforcement, and established the principle of no punishment for a first offense that is trivial and has no serious consequences.
China has strengthened the supervision of administrative enforcement of the law in all respects and improved the remedial process. China uses IT application in the management and on-site recording of case-handling procedures, and has strengthened real-time supervision over law enforcement activities. It has established a performance appraisal system with the focus on law enforcement, and put in place a sound administrative review system that is impartial, efficient and convenient and works in the interest of the people. The state has developed platforms to provide information and online supervision concerning administrative law enforcement, ensuring that enforcement personnel are professional and follow standardized rules in their work, and law enforcement management is systematic, and applying IT in the procedure. It has strengthened accountability mechanisms and effectively regulated administrative acts.
In its effort to build a service-oriented government, China has continued to deepen reform, accelerate the transformation of government functions, ensure an environment of fair competition by legal means, and strengthen oversight and service provision. It has phased out licensing of matters not covered by the Law on Administrative Licensing, and replaced the provision of documentary evidence with an undertaking that relevant conditions have been met, for applications concerning individual matters and operating permits required for businesses, with strengthened oversight during and after the process. Government departments have published a full list of their services, established a government service evaluation system, and streamlined work processes to create a quality and efficient service environment. The central government has promoted online public services, advanced a national online platform for government services, and improved the standards, efficacy and connectivity of the service platforms of different regions and departments, ensuring that everyone has equitable and convenient access to basic public services.
3. Improving the Judiciary to Protect the Basic Rights of Citizens
By deepening reform of the judiciary, China has improved the allocation of judicial powers and responsibilities to ensure independent and impartial exercise of judicial power and the power of prosecutors. It has reformed the category-based management of judicial personnel and job security for the judicial profession. The state has carried out unified management of personnel, funds and property in people’s courts and procuratorates under the provincial level, and set up trans-regional people’s courts and people’s procuratorates. Courts to handle intellectual property and financial cases, and online courts have been established in some provinces and equivalent administrative units.
To implement judicial accountability in all respects, China has carried out comprehensive and integrated reform of the judicial system. The state has made clear the powers and responsibilities of judges and prosecutors, improved the disciplinary mechanisms, and strengthened checks and oversight. The people’s courts have improved the list of judicial power and responsibilities, and strictly implemented the accountability system for unlawful judicial decisions, ensuring that those who hear cases pass judgments and take accountability for the cases they have adjudicated. The people’s procuratorates have developed a performance measurement system and evaluation mechanisms for prosecutors, focusing on the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of their case handling, to ensure that those who handle a case and make a ruling assume full responsibility for it. China has strictly implemented regulations to prevent interference in the justice system.
China has strictly implemented a case docketing and registration system across the board to fully protect citizens’ right to take legal action. The judiciary has continued to combine harsh punishment and leniency in handling criminal cases, and apply appropriate penalties in accordance with the law. It has improved criminal proceedings and standardized the system of showing leniency to suspects and defendants who confess to their crimes. China has improved a fast-track sentencing procedure for criminal cases and further separated the handling of simple and complex cases to punish those found guilty promptly in accordance with the law and to protect human rights. In 2020, 87 percent of the criminal cases were treated with leniency after the accused pled guilty. China has amended the Civil Procedure Law and improved the system of civil evidence to provide solutions to disputes more effectively. Separation of simple and complex civil cases has been piloted in 305 courts in 20 cities in 15 provinces. The state has strengthened judicial protection of public interest, and improved the system by which prosecuting bodies can bring public interest lawsuits to court. It has amended the Administrative Procedure Law, strengthened the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of any individual subjected to an administrative action, and issued regulations stipulating that the individual in charge of an administrative agency should appear in court if a lawsuit is filed against the agency.
Judicial activities are becoming more open to increase judicial transparency. China has improved the information-releasing platforms on judicial procedures, trials, written judgments, and the execution of judgments. It keeps improving the service of China Procuratorial Network and China Procuratorial Hearing Network. As of April 2021, China Judgments Online had published over 119 million judgments, attracting 60.7 billion visits. About 12.7 million court trials had been broadcast live. China has strengthened supervision over judicial activities, criminal proceedings and civil administrative proceedings, and carried out supervision over public interest litigation. It has implemented the Law on People’s Jurors, improved the system of people’s jurors, and deepened reform of the system of people’s supervisors.
China strives to ensure that those accused of criminal offences receive a fair trial. China has promoted reform of the criminal litigation system centered on the court trial. It strictly follows the principles of legality, presumption of innocence, and evidence-based verdict, and excludes any evidence obtained by illegal means. It has improved the mechanism for witnesses to appear in court, and ensures that court trial plays the decisive role in the judicial process. China has fully guaranteed the rights of criminal suspects and defendants to defense and to legal aid. Pilot work has been advanced to ensure that a legal defense is provided in all criminal cases. The state protects defense lawyers’ right to meet their clients, to examine the case files, to investigate and obtain evidence, to conduct cross-examination, to debate and defend, and other rights related to court hearings. It has improved the mechanism for lawyers to perform their duties in accordance with the law, and formed a joint quick response system to ensure lawyers’ right to practice. China follows the principle of seeking truth from facts and corrects any mistakes found in judicial proceedings to prevent and address miscarriage of justice. China is very cautious about using the death penalty, and the number of crimes punishable by the death penalty has been reduced significantly.
China ensures the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects, defendants, prisoners, minor offenders under community correctional programs, people on drug rehabilitation and people released from jail after serving their sentence. China has put in place sound systems of commutation, parole and temporary execution of sentence outside prison, and continues to improve the mechanisms for promoting open, dynamic, transparent, and convenient law enforcement in prison, and to standardize law enforcement in prison. The government has promulgated the Community Correction Law and measures for its implementation, which has helped to institutionalize and standardize sentences of community services and made the system more professional. It has strengthened supervision, management and education of and assistance to those sentenced to community service, and a less restrictive social environment can help them reintegrate into society more smoothly. The state has promulgated the Narcotics Control Law and the Regulations on Drug Rehabilitation, ensured the legitimate rights and interests of persons in rehabilitation, and carried out law enforcement supervision in this regard. China has improved the institutions and mechanisms for social organizations to help educate the people released from jail after serving their sentence, ensured their access to social assistance, and provided employment assistance to them to facilitate their return to normal life.
China has improved the system of remedy for infringement of rights and judicial assistance. It has put in place a state compensation system. Compensation has increased over the years along with the economic and social development of the country. The daily compensation for violation of a citizen’s personal liberty has risen from RMB17.2 in 1995 to RMB373.1 in 2021. China has improved the state judicial assistance system. It has established judicial assistance committees, and improved the institutions for dovetailing judicial assistance with social assistance and legal aid to help victims of a crime who are unable to obtain sufficient compensation to extricate themselves from financial difficulties.
China strives to improve its public legal services. The state has stepped up efforts to develop a modern network covering both urban and rural areas that provides convenient and efficient public legal services to all. A sound legal aid system has been established and specifications for criminal, civil and administrative legal aid services have been issued to provide legal aid to more people. China encourages the development of the legal profession. As of April 2021, there were 529,000 lawyers throughout the country.
