China has unveiled a detailed plan and timetable on judicial and social reform, amid efforts to advance the rule of law in a more effective way.
On Thursday, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's General Office, and the General Office of the State Council published an implementation plan on deepening judicial and social reform, following the fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in October 2014.
The implementation plan covers 84 reform measures, assigns each of the 84 tasks to specific organizations, and defines deadlines and verifiable results for each item.
"GNAWING ON HARD BONES"
Wrongful convictions, judicial corruption and other injustices have damaged the public's opinion of the judicial system; all can be traced to ambiguities within the system.
To improve judicial justice and credibility, 48 measures -- including litigation reform to prioritize trials, letting judges assume lifelong responsibility for cases they handle and holding them accountable for any miscarriages of justice, as well as improving jury and public supervision -- were outlined.
An official with the central leading group for deepening judicial reform said that departments would now shoulder more responsibilities, by "gnawing on hard bones" to ensure deep-rooted problems were addressed.
Chen Weidong, professor with the Renmin University of China's Law School, said the central leading group would dismantle departmental interests and address issues that impaired justice and capacity.
Some of the measures, including the administrative mechanism of judges and prosecutors, were raised a decade ago but had not been not successfully implemented due to a lack of a unified management, according to Chen.
"Steered by the CPC Central Committee, this round of reform will see measures put into real practice," he said.
Meng Qingtao, professor with the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said that structural reform within judicial organs and their administrative systems, as well as management of officials and financing, were already being trialed to ensure independent exercise of power.
