By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-30 07:28

She Xianglin (third from left), a resident of Hubei province who was held in prison for 11 years for a murder he did not commit, is escorted by police while leaving the Jingshan county people's court, which acquitted him on April 13, 2005. [China Daily]

He was convicted for murdering his wife. But she was found to be alive, and reappeared with her second husband and their son. That happened after 11 years, though. And throughout those years he was in prison.

The dramatic turn of events proved She Xianglin was innocent. The 39-year-old resident of Shayang county in Hubei province was acquitted and released on April 13, 2005. Later, the local public security bureau paid him and his family more than 450,000 yuan ($64,420) in State compensation and social security allowances. The authorities provided him with an apartment and got him a job too. And the policemen and judges involved in the case were either sacked or demoted.

The media had a field day reporting the case four years ago, and their frenzy did not end there. They began looking for similar cases, and started debates on subjects ranging from judicial fairness to whether the compensation She received was worth the time he spent behind bars. "She's is one of the most exemplary cases in State compensation history," says Jiang Bixin, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

But She's case is still an exception rather than the rule. For example, Ma Dandan has not been as lucky. The 19-year-old Shanxi province resident was proved innocent after spending three days in prison on charges of "prostitution". Ma sought 5 million yuan ($715,770) for having been imprisoned on false charges, damage to her reputation and the mental torture she had to go through. But what she got was 74 yuan ($10.50) for lost wages.

Such cases are not uncommon. People are known to have been arrested wrongly, and then released (some times after being imprisoned) with a mere public apology and a small amount in compensation, calculated on the basis of the daily local average salary.

But people like Ma may not have to suffer her fate in future. The government has started work on amending the State Compensation Law, implemented in 1994. The draft amendments will be discussed at a regular session of the National People's Congress (NPC) National Committee in October.

The State has to take responsibility for the "mental torture (and disrepute) Ma and her parents suffered," says Ying Songnian, one of the core drafters of the State Compensation Law and president of the Administrative Law Association of China. "We cannot avoid talking about compensation for mental torture any longer."

"One of the most urgent work today is to strengthen the State compensation mechanism to better protect citizens' legal rights and interests as part of China's overall effort to improve the legal system and rule of law," says Ma Huaide, vice-president of the Chinese University of Political Science and Law, as well as the Administrative Law Association.

The law was considered a major step towards the rule of law 14 years ago. "We can't deny it was a major step in the country's legal system. It has helped better protect many people's rights and interests and get them proper compensated too," Jiang says. In the past five years alone, the country's courts have dealt with 13,000 State compensation cases and granted 180 million yuan ($25.76 million) in damages, according to SPC's work report presented at the NPC annual session last month.

The courts have always strived for better implementation of the law, says the just-retired chief justice, Xiao Yang. For instance, they have adopted the practice of having both the parties in a dispute present while dealing with State compensation cases.

Early this month, the government raised the compensation level for wrongful detention because people's average daily income has increased in recent years. The average daily income is adjusted every year, hence, the standard compensation level today is 99.31 yuan ($14.21), up 15.65 yuan ($2.25) from last year.

According to law, a wronged person's compensation should be calculated according to the average daily salary of a State employee in the previous year. But despite that, many experts say payment of such an amount is just a "symbolic" gesture because of the low compensation level and often toothless enforcement.

The experts have been voicing concern over the compensation for a long time now. They cite its various shortcomings as more complicated cases come to light. The narrow compensation criterion, low and sometimes irrational levels, inefficient and the time-consuming procedure have all come under the experts' fire. Some problems, for example, are acute during criminal compensation cases.

"If our aim is to make the State compensation system more than a mere 'symbol', then the problems plaguing it, in theory and practice both, have to be treated seriously," Ma Huaide says.

In the past five years, NPC deputies at the annual sessions have submitted more than a dozen suggestions to amend the law. Sun Guihua, vice-procurator general with Harbin Municipal People's Procuratorate, has submitted detailed amendments to the law twice. She did so after realizing through her years of experience that it is almost impossible for people to go through the State compensation procedure.

Jiang says the draft amendments are aimed at making more people seek and get State compensation in a wider range of cases. Also, they will prompt government departments to adopt a scientific outlook of development and strictly follow the law and accelerate the country's goal to establish a society governed by law. Moreover, they will offer "people an easier, fairer and more reasonable application procedure to get compensation".

Efforts to improve the State compensation mechanism show the government's desire to adapt itself to changing social and political situations, Ma Huaide says. "It's important that the powers exercised by government agencies and officials are restricted according to law." Then only can a society ruled by law be established.