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Access to Justice

June 25, 2008
December 5, 2012

According to a June 13 Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) article, authorities are reportedly denying imprisoned rights activist Hu Jia access to adequate medical care. Hu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and his family has expressed concern over his poor health. Authorities allegedly told Hu's family that his health has improved and he is not eligible for medical parole, according to the CHRD article.


June 25, 2008

Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov

CECC Chairman and Cochairman Issue Statement on China's Legal Development

June 25, 2008


May 12, 2008
December 5, 2012

In a move that Chinese officials claim is intended to combat corruption, increase public oversight and participation in government, and allow citizens access to government-held information, the State Council on April 5, 2007, issued the first national Regulations on Open Government Information (OGI Regulation), which take effect May 1, 2008. Implementation begins at a time when the need for greater transparency in the areas of environmental health, land disputes, disease, and food, drug, and product safety has become apparent. The time lag between issue and effective date provided citizens and government departments a one-year preparatory period.


May 5, 2008
December 5, 2012

More than 14,000 Chinese citizens signed an open letter released to the public on January 1, 2008, urging the Chinese government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) before the 2008 Olympics "without reservations," according to a January 1 Radio Free Asia (RFA) article (in Chinese). The letter (posted on the China Human Rights Forum Web site) also called on China to undertake a number of domestic reforms to bring the country in line with the ICCPR, including the revocation of regulations restricting religious freedom and abolishment of the requirement that social organizations must first register with the government to be considered legal.


May 5, 2008
April 1, 2013

The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) issued measures that standardize the disclosure of environmental information by government agencies and enterprises, and provide the public with the right to request government environmental information, according to an April 25, 2007, SEPA press release. SEPA issued the Measures on Open Environmental Information (the Measures) on April 11, and was the first government agency to release its own implementing measures after the State Council issued the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Open Government Information on April 5. Both come into effect on May 1, 2008.


May 5, 2008
March 18, 2013

A Guangzhou court sentenced rights defender Yang Maodong (who uses the pen name Guo Feixiong) to five years in prison for "illegal operation of a business," a crime under Article 225 of China's Criminal Law, according to a November 16 Guangzhou Daily article (in Chinese, via the Web site of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government). A November 14 Human Rights in China (HRIC) press release said that the Tianhe District People's Court, in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, handed down the sentence on November 14 and also fined him 40,000 yuan (US$5,400). The Guangzhou Daily article said that Guo's punishment stemmed from activities he allegedly undertook beginning in 2001.


December 12, 2006
November 30, 2012

Local authorities have announced plans to take Shanghai lawyer and property rights advocate Zheng Enchong into temporary custody upon his scheduled release from prison, according to a June 1 Human Rights in China (HRIC) report. Zheng is serving a three-year prison sentence for "illegally providing state secrets to entities outside of China" and is due for release on June 5, 2006, according to court documents from the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court and Shanghai High People's Court. The trial court judgment subjects Zheng to an additional punishment of deprivation of political rights for one year following his release. Under Article 54(2) of the Criminal Law, these political rights include "the rights of freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration."


December 8, 2006
November 30, 2012

The Yinan County People's Court in Linyi city, Shandong province, conducted a retrial of the Chen Guangcheng case on November 27, and on December 1 imposed the same guilty verdict and sentence that they had reached in his original trial, according to a December 1 Xinhua report (via the China Internet Information Center) and various international NGO and news media reports. The court found Chen guilty of "intentional destruction of property" (a crime under Article 275 of the Criminal Law) and "gathering people to disturb traffic order" (a crime under Article 291 of the Criminal Law), and sentenced him to four years and three months in prison.