Judicial progress should be acknowledged

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based non-governmental human rights group, released its 2014 World Report on Jan 21, its 24th annual review of human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. In the typical way that China's human rights record is always badmouthed, the report ignores basic facts and turns a blind eye to the progress embodied in China's judicial reforms last year.

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012 approved the deepening of judicial reform and the stepping up of efforts to build a socialist judicial system with Chinese characteristics. At the national political and legal work conference held in January the following year, the Chinese government pledged to press ahead with reforms of the use of judicial power and the controversial laojiao, or re-education through labor system. Reforms of the petition and household registration systems were also put in the pipeline.

Pledges to advance judicial reform through multiple approaches were included in the Decisions on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms released by the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC in November last year. The decisions include, but are not limited to, guaranteeing the independent and impartial exercising of jurisdiction and procuratorial powers, improving the human rights protection system, widening the channels for people to participate in and supervise judicial activities, and reducing the number of crimes subject to the death penalty.

All the aforesaid demonstrate China's resolve to push forward the rule of law, so it is, to say the least, a shame that the Human Rights Watch report simply criticizes China for being "conservative" and not copying "Western-style" rule of law.

The truth is China has made great strides in human rights protection by abolishing the system of reeducation through labor, which was one of the highlights of the country's judicial reform process in 2013.

In late December, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, passed a resolution ending the decades-old laojiao system. The resolution, which took effect immediately, stipulated that although the penalties imposed before the abolition of the system remain "valid", those still serving their laojiao sentence would be set free.

Equally impressive in 2013 were China's efforts to prevent and redress miscarriages of justice. In November, the Supreme People's Court issued a document on establishing a mechanism to rule out evidence and testimonies obtained through coercion or other illegal means and to prevent wrong verdicts in criminal cases.