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Victims of violent crimes like murder and rape could receive compensation from the State under a proposed relief system aimed at better protecting victims' rights.

The measure, considered a big step forward for the country's legal system, is one of the items on the agenda of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) this year, according to SPC President Xiao Yang.

He said on Sunday at a conference in the eastern city of Jinan that it would be difficult for some victims of crimes to receive their just compensation without a system of strong safeguards in place.

"Without such a system, the courtrooms will be nothing more than an arena for legal professionals to exercise their litigation skills", Xiao said.

Under the Criminal Procedure Law, victims who suffer material losses because of a crime have the right to seek compensation by filing an incidental civil action alongside the criminal proceedings.

But because the clause is general and because some defendants cannot afford to pay damages, victims often fail to recover what should be paid, even after arduous litigation, according to Chen Guangzhong, a professor of Criminal Procedure Law at the China University of Political Science and Law.

"Even if the victims get some compensation, it is often too little for what they've suffered," the professor said.

The murder committed by Qiu Xinghua is a case in point. The provincial high court in northwest China's Shaanxi Province last month ordered the execution of Qiu, a 47-year-old farmer who killed 11 people and seriously injured two others in July. However, the court did not accept compensation requests from the victims' families because the murderer's family was too poor to pay.

"I cannot imagine how life will go on," Yin Xingqiao, the wife of a victim, told local media. Her husband, the family's sole breadwinner, was hacked to death, leaving her alone with three shabby rooms and a 10-year-old son.

The wife said the compensation was more important to her than the death sentence because she would have to find a way to support her family. Local media reported that Yin appealed to the local government for help after the verdict was handed down, but received only 500 yuan ($64) far short of the amount necessary for a decent funeral.

Chen said that in some other countries, the State would compensate the victims in such circumstances.

(China Daily January 9, 2007)