Central authority calls on judiciary to learn from past mistakes

CHANGCHUN -- The political and legal affairs body of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said a thorough review of past erroneous judgments would help improve China's legal system.

During a meeting on legal system reform from Monday to Tuesday, which was attended by legal representatives from all over the country, the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs (CPLA) of the CPC Central Committee said more can be done to avoid wrongful convictions.

During the meeting the CPLA said the current legal accountability system was undergoing major changes, which would improve the quality of judgments and raise the credibility of the country's judicial organs.

Judicial staff involved in convictions involving confessions gained by torture or found to have bent the law for personal gain will be punished, it was agreed.

China said the people must feel equity and justice in every case.

The move follows a number of high-profile wrongful convictions.

One of such cases, in 1996 in Inner Mongolia, involved a teenager named Huugjilt, who was executed for the rape and murder of a woman the same year.

However, a serial rapist and killer later admitted to the crime while in police custody in 2005.

In December 2014, Huugjilt's conviction was officially quashed by Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Higher People's Court.

In June this year, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said it will rehear a two-decades-old rape and murder case, in which a man was found guilty and executed, over concerns that the evidence presented was insufficient.

Nie Shubin, from Hebei province, was convicted and executed in 1995 for the rape and murder of a woman. In 2005, another man confessed to the crime.