Access to Justice

On April 13, the Jingshan People’s Court in Hubei province formally declared She Xianglin innocent of murder charges after a retrial of the case. In 1994, the court convicted Mr. She of murdering his wife and sentenced him to death, a sentence that was later commuted to 15 years’ imprisonment (see related stories here and here). In late March, his wife suddenly returned to their Hubei village. Although Mr. She’s lawyer reported difficulties collecting evidence for the case and applied for a delay in the hearing, the resolution of the case, which has caused a national outcry, was never seriously in doubt.

Hebei provincial government authorities are about to announce the results of their investigation into the Nie Shubin wrongful execution case, and a Hubei court has scheduled a public hearing on April 13 to review the conviction of She Xianglin, according to various Chinese media sources. Nie Shubin was executed ten years ago for a rape and murder that another man confessed to in January (for details, click here). She Xianglin was convicted of murdering his wife in 1994 and sentenced to death, a sentence that was later commuted to fifteen years’ imprisonment. In late March, his wife suddenly returned to their Hubei village (for details, click here). Chinese media have reported widely on both cases, which came to light in recent weeks.

(Updated April 8) The wife of a man sentenced to death ten years ago for her murder suddenly returned to their Hubei village last week. The convict was still alive, however, because after an appeals court rejected the verdict in 1994 and ordered a retrial, his sentence was changed to 15 years’ imprisonment. The story, originally published in the Legal Daily on April 1 and widely circulated in China’s official media since then, comes in the midst of national debate over the death penalty in China and a public uproar over revelations that authorities executed an innocent man named Nie Shubin in nearby Hebei province (see related story here). The Hubei High People’s Court adjudication committee reportedly met last week to evaluate lessons learned from the new case and called on provincial courts to evaluate evidence strictly and exercise care in passing judgment on every criminal case.

The Supreme People Court (SPC) decided April 6 to expand the use of court fee waivers for poor and disadvantaged plaintiffs. The decision revises previous regulations issued in 2000 that govern a court’s ability to reduce or eliminate litigation fees (susong fei) for certain types of plaintiffs, such as the poor, the elderly, and those receiving legal aid. Courts require plaintiffs to pay litigation fees as part of the filing process, and commonly calculate this mandatory fee as a percentage of the total amount of damages that plaintiffs seek. Since many low-income plaintiffs often lack the funds to pay other than nominal fees before trial, litigation fees often make it hard for poor people to use the legal system to protect their rights. The SPC decision likely will only have a limited impact, however, since it requires courts to grant fee waivers only to the elderly and individuals receiving government welfare payments.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) work report to the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 9 outlines Chinese judicial reform goals for 2005. Judicial authorities will lay out these projects in greater detail in a soon-to-be-announced five-year plan for judicial reform, according to both the work report and two articles (1, 2) appearing in the 21st Century Business Herald.

Highlighted reform efforts include: reform of court adjudication committees, changes to the judicial review of death penalty cases, regularization of the system of people's assessors, reform of rehearing procedures, and strengthening of basic level people's tribunals. (For more information, see below)

National People's Congress (NPC) members and representatives of Chinese civil society organizations submitted legislative proposals that would promote the development of public interest law during the annual NPC plenary session, noted a Beijing News report. Individual Chinese lawyers and academic organizations have been active in cases involving broader social issues, but Chinese and foreign observers note that tough "standing" rules forbid individuals from suing on behalf of the public. ("Standing" refers generally to a requirement that litigants have a real interest in the outcome of a suit – in other words, that the result matters to them.)

A group of 150 farmers from Hongqiao village, Jiangsu province, has won an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR). According to China Daily and Xinhua reports, a Beijing court ruled March 18 that the MLR must review its approval of a Wuxi city decision to requisition the farmers’ land. The farmers allege the land seizure was unlawful because the land was used for commercial purposes. Last July, they appealed to the MLR for reconsideration of its decision to approve the land seizure, but the MLR rejected the appeal on technical grounds, arguing that it was not submitted within the legally prescribed time. In late 2004, the farmers filed suit in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court to compel the MLR to consider their appeal.

The South Central Nationalities University in Hubei province opened a new legal aid center on March 21. The Center will serve both students and the broader community, providing counsel on minority and labor rights cases, public interest litigation, and administrative litigation suits.

The South Central Nationalities University is one of thirteen institutions of higher learning designed specifically to train minority students.