China's State Council Work Safety Committee has set a Jan. 15 deadline to settle a backlog of serious workplace accident cases, some of which were filed as long ago as 2005.

Police, work safety and coal mine safety administrations, supervision departments, procuratorates, courts and judicial departments at the provincial level have been ordered to make a concerted effort to resolve the cases, said the committee in a circular released on Monday.

The circular said the agencies should report their progress on these cases to the committee, explain any delayed settlements and verify the economic, disciplinary and political penalties for those held responsible.

Judicial departments should trace the legal procedures of all the cases relegated to them and explain why some penalties had not been enforced.

For cases where progress had been slow, concerned departments should divide their work and could not set such cases aside or create obstacles during investigations, the circular said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2007)