No progress is small in protecting rights and law

Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, delivers a work report to the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Sunday. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/chinadaily.com.cn]

A number of court cases were cited in the work report of the Supreme People's Court, which the chief justice delivered to lawmakers in the National's People Congress on Sunday. They were cases that set precedents for the country's still developing legal system.

In one example, a driver was fined for not giving way to a pedestrian on a zebra crossing not equipped with traffic lights, as required by the traffic regulations. The driver brought legal proceedings against the traffic administration claiming the pedestrian had stopped, giving him right of way. However, the court decided against the plaintiff, on the grounds of priority of life.

In another example, when four media organizations were taken to court by a business organization for their negative reports about its dubious background, the court found in favor of the media organizations on the grounds the media has the lawful right to public supervision and criticism.

The Chinese justice system tried 34,000 cases of corruption last year, involving 49,000 suspects (including some former high-ranking officials), and 260,000 criminal cases.

It also closed 3.3 million cases of commercial disputes, an increase of more than 20 percent from last year, and more than 1 million financial cases, including 4,200 cases of falsified statements and financial fraud.

In this context, the cases cited above may seem of little significance. However, they are of great significance because they show the core concepts at work in China's legal development.

The concept of human rights was unthinkable prior to the beginning of China's reform and opening-up, when the legal system and its professional staff were practically nonexistent.

The nation's true picture shouldn't be clouded by all the business data it generates every day. Its reform is not only an economic process. It is a progress that has, as it inevitably should have, involved changes in the political and legal institutions. It is unrealistic to allege that China is only willing to make economic changes.

Seen from this perspective, every case is of equal importance in supporting the values of society and in strengthening the government's legality.

A lot more are yet to come, as the Supreme People's Court acknowledged. China is still in the thick of its anti-corruption campaign. Its legal framework is still to take shape to accommodate its rapidly changing economic processes, especially those in its financial markets. It still has to build up its capability to handle cases involving overseas legal systems and entities.

It will continue to make progress.