China started an eight-month campaign on Wednesday to clear up a backlog of court cases in an effort to maintain social stability in face of the global financial crisis.

Wang Shengjun, President of China's Supreme People's Court, said the campaign was expected to bring an end to a number of long-running property cases. The specific number of backlogged cases was not released.

"To execute the verdicts is in urgent demand for tackling the global financial crisis and to boost economic development," said Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at a tele-conference Wednesday.

The campaign will help to ease social conflicts, protect the people's legal interests and maintain social stability, Zhou said.

"Some sentences that have not been carried out remain major concerns of petitioners and the public," Wang said. "Those cases usually draw criticisms and we have to take actions."

"Difficulty to execute court orders", mainly referring to the civil cases, has long been a problem in Chinese judicial system.

In recent years, China has set up a new system at higher courts to coordinate the enforcement of judgments. Efforts were made to deal with local protectionism and violent activities against enforcement during the process of building a country under rule of law.

Wang listed six case categories which are priorities of the new judicial campaign. They include cases delayed because of local government interference or other illegal pressures, the defendant being government units or state-owned enterprises, cases involving migrant worker payment and cases petitioned for several times.

However, Zhou noted that if cases were delayed because the verdicts were not appropriate, they should be corrected first. Officials found to be corrupt will be severely punished, he said.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the new campaign, a leading group of staff from several ministries and government bodies has been placed in charge. It is required to submit monthly reports during its investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2008)