Chinese Procurator-General Jia Chunwang pledged to step up efforts in 2004 to prevent and deal with job-related crimes and bring the anti-corruption campaign into depth.
In a report on the work of the Supreme People's Procuratorate to the ongoing Second Session of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) Wednesday, Jia urged procuratorates at all levels to focus their efforts on such major cases as bribery of government officials, administrative and judicial personnel and official umbrellas for organized criminal gangs as well as job-related crimes in the reform of state-owned enterprises, contracting for engineering projects, the leasing of land use rights and financial affairs.
Moreover, the procuratorates will strictly deal with job-related crimes such as infringement of right of person, democratic rights and dereliction of duty that cause serious losses to the state interests and the life and property of the people, he said.
He noted that China's public prosecution departments will increase regional and international cooperation in hunting for criminals who have fled the country.
The procuratorates at different levels uncovered 39,562 job-related criminal cases, involving 43,490 people in 2003. The procuratorates filed public prosecution against 22,761 cases involving 26,124 people.
The public prosecutors helped retrieve 4.3 billion yuan (about US$518 million) from direct financial losses, Jia said.
Over the past year, the procuratorates handled criminal cases involving 2,728 government officials at or above the county level, including 167 at the prefecture level and four at the provincial level.
Meanwhile, procuratorates investigated 9,720 administrative law enforcement and judicial personnel, uncovered 14,844 cases of embezzlement, acceptance of bribes, appropriation of public funds and dividing up in private of state property during the reform of state-owned enterprises, investigated 1,408 government functionaries who were suspected of illegal detention, extorting confession by torture and sabotaging elections, and brought to justice 7160 government officials for dereliction of duty and abuse of power. In addition, 596 job-related criminal suspects in hiding were rounded up.
Jia also pledged to strengthen the supervisory functions of procuratorates and standardize law enforcement in order to safeguard social equity and justice.
The Chinese procuratorates would strictly enforce laws and strengthen prosecution of serious crimes that threaten state security, social order and the socialist market order and take an active part in the combination of measures to improve law and order, said Jia.
The top prosecutor also said that the procuratorial organs will keep a close watch on criminal proceedings, civil case hearings and administrative proceedings to see that the judgment is fair, the judicial proceedings are not violated and the right of litigation is not encroached upon and correct the outstanding problems associated with prison term reduction, release on probation and release on medical parole, areas in which the people have the most complaints.
Jia promised to do good preparations for revising the organic law of the people's procuratorates, do a good job of instating the people's supervisor system, prevent and correct cases of detention beyond the prescribed time limit and ensure the normal practice of lawyers in criminal proceedings.
Jia admitted that the procuratorates at all levels have not done enough to check the problems of unfairness in the enforcement of law and failure to implement law, thus allowing some corruption cases that happened at the grassroots to go unpunished. There are also cases of police officers violating law and discipline and there are even cases of violating the law while enforcing the law, Jia said.
Last year, the procuratorial organs in China corrected 22,575 cases that should but were not put on file for investigation; removed the files of 2,552 cases that should not be put on file for investigation; disapproved 58,872 arrests that did not conform to the law provisions; and canceled the prosecution of 27,957 cases that were not serious enough for prosecution. In criminal proceedings, prosecutors protested against the ruling of 2,906 cases they deem misjudged. They also proposed in writing to correct the judgment of 9,518 cases that they deemed the litigation rights of the parties concerned were violated, according to Jia.
In civil and administrative procedures, procuratorial organs also protested against the rulings of 13,120 cases involving the rights and interests of peasant-workers in cities and laid-off workers and advanced proposals for re-hearing and re-prosecution on 3,316 cases.
China has instituted the "people supervisor" system on the trial basis to oversee procuratorial organs in their decisions of canceling prosecution of cases and arrests. The system has been tried in 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. So far, 4,944 people have been recommended to be "people's supervisors". The system has proved that law enforcement has become more transparent.
Facts & Figures:
-- Procuratorates at various levels approved the arrest of 764,776 criminal suspects of various kinds in 2003, prosecuted 819,216on behalf of the State;
-- The Supreme People's Procuratorate moved to supervise the handling of 113 cases of major economic crimes, while procuratorates at various levels across China approved the arrest of 19,222 suspects, and prosecuted 21,440 on charges of smuggling, trading of smuggled goods, producing and marketing fake and shoddy goods, financial swindling, tax evasion, intellectual property right infringement and other economic crimes;
-- The procuratorates investigated 39,562 cases of various job-related crimes, involving 43,490 people, and prosecuted 22,761 cases and 26,124 people involved on behalf of the State. The efforts retrieved more than 4.3 billion yuan in direct economic losses;
-- The procuratorates investigated 18,515 major crimes concerning corruption, taking bribes and embezzlement of public funds, and 123 of them involved at least 10 million yuan each. A total of 2,728 officials at or above county or section chief, 167 at or above prefecture level, and four officials at provincial or ministerial level were investigated;
-- Thanks to intervention of procuratorates at various levels, a total of 22,575 cases were filed by investigating departments (police), which previously failed to do; the procuratorates also intervened in rescinding 2,552 filed cases that should not have been registered according to law; a total of 9,440 people were arrested and 5,220 prosecuted after intervention by the procuratorates according to law; the procuratorates disapproved the applications to arrest 58,872 people and prosecute 27,957 in compliance with law;
-- The procuratorates appealed for retrials of 2,906 cases with incorrect judgment or ruling, handed down 9,518 pieces of written instructions over activities during investigations and trials in violation of the relevant laws;
-- The procuratorates lodged 13,120 pieces of appeals to courts for retrials of unjustified ruling, and 3,316 pieces of proposals on reassessment of cases to procuratorates, owning to illegal law enforcement or unfair ruling in cases regarding public interests or migrant workers and laid-off workers.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2004)