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Petition and judicial reform to proceed simultaneously

By Liu Changsong: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, November 21, 2013

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The problem with the petition system is not the system itself, but the executive process. Hence, reform of the petition system must proceed simultaneously with reform of the judicial system to ensure judicial relief becomes a reliable way of solving disputes. In this way, the problem of excessive petitions can be solved.

A petition reception center in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. [File photo]

Major transformation is certainly underway. The central government has abolished the petition ranking system that counts the number of petitioners in every province and municipality. It has been replaced by a "points" reporting system between central and local governments and between higher and lower authorities. This is designed "to resolve contradictions and problems at the grassroots level."

Background to the petition system

In 2005, the State Council issued the Regulations on Petitions, stipulating that governments at all levels should establish a responsibility system for petition work so that officials could be exposed for negligence of duty.

It stipulated that a notice must be circulated among officials dealing with public complaints on their responsibility for dereliction of duty; however, it soon evolved into a public ranking system used to measure an official's performance.

Under the ranking system, local governments and officials were graded according to the number of petitions received – the more petitions they handled, the poorer the grade given in their annual assessment. This led to many local authorities taking any means necessary to prevent petitioners from lodging their grievances to higher authorities, leading to many social problems.

Social problems

Firstly, "black security guards" and "black jails" emerged in quick succession. Petitioners have been frequently intercepted by "black security guards" hired by local governments, and detained in shabby hostels known as "black jails." They are often ill-treated. The typical example is the Beijing-based Anyuanding Security Service that has made huge profits by detaining petitioners.

Secondly, there have been a large number of petition interceptors. To earn their living, petition interceptors secretly instigate petitioners and then intercept them. This has led to serious losses of state property. Take the petition case of Tang Hui for example. Local governments in Hunan Province spent millions of yuan handling her petition over the past seven years [Editor: Tang Hui, a native of Yongzhou in Hunan Province, was sent to a labor camp to serve an 18-month sentence after petitioning for justice for her daughter, who was repeatedly raped and forced into prostitution at the age of 11].

Taking the country as a whole, the figure is estimated to run into trillions of yuan each year. According to Liu Yazhou, political commissar with the National Defense University, China's annual expenditure in maintaining stability has exceeded its annual national defense budget (China's national defense budget stood at 670.3 billion yuan in 2010).

Thirdly, illegal detention and laojiao (re-education through labor) are believed to be common phenomena. Petitioners are often detained for one or even several years without ever having a public trial, during which time their personal freedoms are restricted. Local governments have connived in this. Before old petitions are dealt with, new ones come along with new excuses when the detained petitioners are released.

Simultaneous petition and judicial system reform

In my opinion, the laojiao system violates the constitution, so it should be suspended. It would be better if it is abolished, or transformed into a punishment system under a neutral court.

The Regulation of Petitions stipulates that petitioners should file a complaint to relevant government organs in accordance with laws and administrative procedures. A lot of disputes in their petitions are supposed to be resolved through litigation, arbitration and executive reconsideration. However, there are serious flaws in the mechanism supposed to solve disputes. Therefore, litigants are forced to turn to petitioners.

Abolition of the petition ranking system can only tackle the problems involving "intercepting petitioners coming to Beijing." It must be spread to the provincial, city and county levels, otherwise the problems cannot be uprooted.

I don't think there's anything new in the central government's "new idea" since the Regulation of Petitions has already clarified specific responsibilities of governments at all levels. The new idea is actually implementation of the regulation itself.

I believe that only by removing the causes of the contradictions can the problem be tackled at its roots. A large number of complaints are aimed at local governments' dereliction of duty, involving illegal requisition of farmland, low compensation for households being resettled, violent demolition of old buildings, and excessive accommodations to the interests of developers. The Wukan Incident is one of the most serious cases of group behavior in recent times [Editor: refers to an incident in Wukan village, southern China's Guangdong Province, in September 2011 when residents expelled local officials from their village in a protest over alleged dereliction of duty].

I anticipate that the government will bring into better balance the relationship between various sectors, implement the concept of "governing for the people, judicature for the people", improve the people's livelihood, and solve the problems that emerge in reform and development according to laws and legal concepts.

The author is a lawyer with the Beijing Jie Rui Law Firm.

This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Li Jingrong.

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