Nearly 16,000 cases asking for state compensation have been heard in China's courts and one-third of them ended with orders for the government to pay, said Cao Jianming, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, on Tuesday.

At a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the Law on State Compensation, Cao said 5,442 cases out of the 15,867 total have been approved in the past ten years, affirming achievements made by various courts in building the judicial system on state compensation.

In 2003, he said, the notification system was introduced to the law, stipulating that the parties concerned should be notified of the right to state compensation by the courts after the wrongdoing is rectified.

The Law on State Compensation is designed to guarantee citizens, legal entities and other organizations who suffer losses from unlawful practices of state organs or government functionaries to receive timely compensation.

But in spite of all the progress, said experts, problems such as limited compensation range, low compensation standards and an imperfect compensation system still exist.

Jiang Bixin, also a vice president of the Supreme People's Court, said the compensation amount should be increased as the law has many references to bodily injury but does not address the issues of mental damage or indirect losses.

A revision of the law has been included in the lawmaking plan of the National People's Congress and changes will be made in the compensation principles, range and standards, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2004)