Life sentence helps rebuild faith in judicial justice
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Former Vice President of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) Huang Songyou was sentenced to life imprisonment in north China's Hebei Province on Tuesday after being found guilty of embezzlement and accepting bribes. Huang was also stripped of his political rights for life and had all of his properties confiscated for the crimes.
The case has caused heated debates since last August, when the Disciplinary Commission of Communist Party of China (CPC) expelled Huang from the CPC, the SPC dismissed all his official positions and handed over his case to prosecutors. Some netizens questioned whether we could expect justice in this case since the suspect was the vice president of the SPC.
Any doubts about justice being served have been answered by the sentence Huang received. There is no tolerance of judicial corruption no matter who is involved. Anyone who violates the law and misuses their power will be punished severely. After Huang was placed under detention and interrogation, the SPC quickly launched a series of regulations on anti- judicial corruption. The response of the media suggests the scale and strength of this campaign is unprecedented.
On January 8, 2009, the SPC issued regulations which set a baseline for behaviors of the judges and court employees. It stated judicial personnel could lose their jobs or face criminal charges if they accept gifts from parties involved in cases. They are also forbidden from having a commercial relationship with lawyers, or attempting to influence cases being handled by others. Court staff must not show favoritism when ruling on cases, especially those involving appraisals and auctions, and are forbidden from leaking details of trials.
A total of 319 court staff were found to have violated the regulations last year. Among them, 120 were transferred to judicial treatment, 145 received disciplinary sanctions from the CPC and 131 were removed from judge or enforcement posts.
The installation of anti-corruption supervisors in courts was another big move implemented by the SPC. So far, 14 full- time supervisors have been installed in the Supreme People's Court to oversee judges, court-order enforcers and other court staff. And there are 24,521 anti-corruption supervisors in 2,392 courts all over the country. This system has enabled supervision to reach the front line of court trials and legal enforcement to create a better environment for combating corruption and redressing injustice.
Moreover, according to media reports, the SPC dispatched inspection teams to local courts to prevent the judicial corruption several times last year. From the above measures we can see the resolution and will of SPC to fight against corruption and injustice. Above all, the Huang Songyou's life sentence will definitely help to rebuild and renew social trust in the judicial justice.
(This post was first published in Chinese and translated by Li Shen)
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