Supreme People's Procuratorate Details New Efforts to Prosecute Abuses of Power

September 7, 2006

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has issued new provisions that detail the criteria for prosecuting official abuses of power, according to a July 26 Xinhua report. The SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement Criminal Cases went into effect on July 26, and clarify standards previously established in 1999 by the SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Cases Directly Received by People's Procuratorates for Filing and Investigation (Trial). The new provisions provide guidance for prosecuting 42 offenses, including 35 "dereliction of duty" crimes under Part II, Chapter 9 of the Criminal Law and 7 "rights infringement" crimes under Part II, Chapter 4. They omit guidance on "embezzlement and bribery" crimes under Part II, Chapter 8 of the Criminal Law, even though standards for prosecuting these crimes were included in the 1999 provisions.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has issued new provisions that detail the criteria for prosecuting official abuses of power, according to a July 26 Xinhua report. The SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement Criminal Cases went into effect on July 26, and clarify standards previously established in 1999 by the SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Cases Directly Received by People's Procuratorates for Filing and Investigation (Trial). The new provisions provide guidance for prosecuting 42 offenses, including 35 "dereliction of duty" crimes under Part II, Chapter 9 of the Criminal Law and 7 "rights infringement" crimes under Part II, Chapter 4. They omit guidance on "embezzlement and bribery" crimes under Part II, Chapter 8 of the Criminal Law, even though standards for prosecuting these crimes were included in the 1999 provisions.

Wang Zhenchuan, Deputy Procurator General of the SPP, explained at a July 26 press conference (in Chinese, posted on the Procuratorial Daily Web site) that the 1999 provisions lacked sufficient guidance, and therefore enabled some officials to escape criminal investigation and punishment for their wrongdoing. Wang encouraged procuratorates to pay attention to major incidents exposed by the news media, and to investigate and punish criminal activity arising from such incidents. A number of officials were prosecuted for abuses of power in 2005 and 2006 following intense media scrutiny. For example, the Beijing News reported in June 2005 that He Feng, former Party secretary of Dingzhou city, Hebei province, had authorized the shootings of villagers protesting inadequate land compensation. He Feng was removed from his post in June, prosecuted for the shootings in December, and sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2006. In June and July, articles in various state-controlled news media highlighted several cases in which torture had resulted in the deaths of Chinese citizens while in the custody of local officials. In one case, two public security officials received sentences of 1 year and 12 years' imprisonment, respectively, for beating a woman to death during police interrogation. The local procuratorate did not launch an investigation until two years after the incident occurred, and only in response to persistent efforts by the woman's husband to petition the government.

While Chinese news media have extensively reported claims by Wang and other SPP officials that the new provisions will result in more prosecutions and greater protection of human rights, in fact, the changes are often minor and obvious clarifications. For example, with respect to maltreatment of prisoners, procuratorates are now expected to initiate a prosecution where the maltreatment brings about the prisoner's suicide, serious injury through self-infliction, death, or mental disorder. The 1999 provisions provided for prosecution only where official maltreatment brought about the prisoner's death, mental disorder, or "other serious consequences." However, the case of Tiananmen democracy protestor Yu Dongyue calls into question the practical effect of the SPP's standards. Yu's mother reported upon Yu's release from prison in February 2006 that he was "broken and mentally deranged," and that he had spent two years in solitary confinement and was subjected to electric shocks and brutal beatings by prison officials. But even though the abuses could have been prosecuted under the 1999 provisions, there are no reports that the local procuratorate ever investigated or prosecuted any prison officials.

A July 11 Procuratorial Daily report (in Chinese) quotes an unnamed SPP spokesperson as saying that local procuratorates do not lack potential cases, but "many of them are cases that [the procuratorates] don't dare handle, are unlikely to handle, and cannot handle." From June 2005 through June 2006, procuratorates throughout China received 6,335 criminal cases of dereliction of duty and rights infringement, according to a July 26 statement by SPP spokesperson Tong Jianming (in Chinese, posted on the Procuratorial Daily Web site). Of those, they filed and investigated 3,773 cases involving 4,645 officials, prosecuted 1,924 officials, and ultimately obtained convictions against 1,450. A July 25 Procuratorial Daily report (in Chinese) notes that even when officials are prosecuted for dereliction of duty crimes, 83 percent of those found guilty receive suspended sentences or exemptions from criminal punishment. The report quotes Professor Chen Guangzhong, a criminal procedure expert at China University of Political Science and Law, as saying that this statistic is the result of many officials having extensive social networks and influence upon judicial agencies. According to a July 25 Procuratorial Daily commentary (in Chinese), an additional problem is that local leaders fear that too many prosecutions against corruption, among other abuses, may adversely affect their political record or ability to attract investment to the locality. As a result, they have intervened in the work of local law enforcement and judicial agencies.

The next step in implementing the new provisions will be to educate local communities and citizens, and to encourage citizens to file complaints and reports about official abuses of power, according to a July 26 Procuratorial Daily report (in Chinese). The procedures for pursuing citizen complaints are currently established under various provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL). Under Article 145 of the CPL, if a procuratorate decides not to begin a prosecution in any case that involves a victim, the procuratorate must report its decision in writing to the victim. The CPL provides that the victim may challenge a decision not to prosecute within seven days after receiving the decision, by petitioning to the procuratorate at the next higher level. If the higher-level procuratorate also decides not to prosecute the case, the victim may bring a lawsuit directly in court under procedures established in Articles 170 through 179 of the CPL.

The SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement Criminal Cases establish standards for prosecuting the following dereliction of duty offenses, among others:

  • negligence in environmental supervision and control (Article 408);
  • negligence in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases (Article 409);
  • illegal approval of land requisition and occupation (Article 410);
  • illegal transfer at low prices of usage rights to state-owned land (Article 410);
  • participating in the production or sale of fake or substandard goods (Article 414); and
  • failure to rescue, or obstruction of the rescue, of a woman or child who has been abducted, sold, or kidnapped (Article 416).

The new provisions establish standards for prosecuting the following rights infringement offenses:

  • abuse of power to hold someone in custody beyond legal limits (Article 238);
  • abuse of power to conduct an unauthorized search (Article 245);
  • coercing a confession under torture (Article 247);
  • acquiring evidence by force (Article 247);
  • prisoner maltreatment (Article 248);
  • retaliation against complainants, petitioners, critics, or those who report to authorities (Article 254); and
  • disruption of an election (Article 256).