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Negotiable fines a sham

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-04 07:46

Law enforcement officers at Chaotiangong Street of Nanjing negotiate fine payments with hawkers and do not issue any receipts. Just the tip of the iceberg, this case reveals the corruption festering among some law enforcers, claims an article on the website www.qianlong.com. The following is an excerpt:

The "negotiable" fine at Chaotiangong Street is more a common phenomenon than an isolated incident.

Penalty amounts should be determined by law, rather than deals struck between law enforcers and fined persons.

When issuing a fine, law enforcement officers should also issue a receipt, so that the amount of fine can be recorded and absorbed by public revenues. If law enforcers do not issue receipts, fines are very likely to be appropriated by themselves.

In order to curb the corruption of law enforcers, the government should keep a sharper eye on them.

(China Daily 03/04/2009 page8)