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China news tagged with: judiciary (4)

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Jerome A. Cohen: China’s Hollow ‘Rule Of Law’

Written by Professor Jerome A. Cohen, co-director of the NYU School of Law’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute and adjunct senior fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, from CNN:

Two major criminal cases in one week — one resulting in an execution, the other a lengthy prison sentence — have focused new foreign attention on China’s judiciary. They are vivid reminders of the limits that China’s Communist Party-dominated legal system imposes on the government’s efforts to impress the world by its “soft power”: its political, cultural and economic influence.

Both the 11-year sentence a Chinese court delivered to democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo for “inciting subversion of state power” and the execution Tuesday of British national Akmal Shaikh for heroin smuggling make clear why the People’s Republic of China emphasizes that it has a “political-legal” system.

In both cases, the party denied the courts the independence to consider the defendants’ claims. And without judicial autonomy, there can be no genuine rule of law.
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- December 31, 2009 10:33 PM
Dui Hua Human Rights Journal: Tibetan Guide’s Incitement Case Surfaces: 3-Year Sentence for Emails, Text Messages

From the Dui Hua Human Rights Journal:

Dui Hua has obtained and produced English translations of the indictment and verdict (original documents in PDF) for a previously unknown case of a Tibetan sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting splittism” after the March 14 riots in Lhasa. The case against Gonpo Tserang (贡保才让), a well-respected expedition guide who has trekked with foreign celebrities and participated in high-profile mountain rescue efforts, involved a series of emails and text messages sent over three days to acquaintances outside of China. These messages, which prosecutors claim “distorted the facts and true situation regarding social stability in the Tibetan area following the ‘March 14 incident” were considered by the court to be deserving of severe punishment.

This case is significant in a number of respects. First, it is the only case Dui Hua is aware of in which a Tibetan in Yunnan Province has been convicted of a state security crime following the Tibetan protests of 2008. Second, it is not at all apparent that the charge of “inciting splittism” was properly applied. The content of the messages is never specified, and it is questionable whether individuals who are not located in China are even capable of carrying out acts that would “split the nation or undermine national unity.” An argument could thus be made that, never imagining that his messages could “incite splittism,” Gonpo Tserang did not intend to do so. This is perhaps an argument that an attorney could have raised in his defense. Unfortunately, it appears that, at least for his appeal, Gonpo Tserang was not represented by counsel—very likely a result of the reluctance of most lawyers to take on criminal defense work in political cases and the threats made warning of serious consequences for lawyers who volunteered to defend Tibetans.

Below is an excerpt of Gongbo Tserang’s indictment and verdict, translated by Dui Hua:

Defendant Gonpo Tserang, male, born December 13, 1976, identification number: 523232197612131519, from Ruoergai [Dzoege] County, Aba [Ngaba] Prefecture, Sichuan Province, understands Tibetan and English and [is employed as a] guide in the expeditions department of the Xianggelila Travel Service. Prior to arrest, resided at 3-1-2 Old Civil Aviation Development, Jiantang Town, Xianggelila County. Placed under criminal detention by the Diqing Prefecture Public Security Bureau on March 23, 2008, on suspicion of inciting splittism. On April 26 of the same year, after approval from our procuratorate, he was arrested by the Diqing Prefecture Public Security Bureau in accordance with the law. He is now in custody and has no prior criminal record.

The Diqing Prefecture Public Security Bureau completed its investigation and sent the case of Gonpo Tserang, suspected of the crime of inciting splittism, to our procuratorate on June 25, 2008, for review and prosecution. After receiving the case, we notified the defendant of his right to retain defense counsel, questioned the defendant in accordance with the law, and reviewed all of the case materials. On July 31, 2008, the case was sent back to the Diqing Prefecture Public Security Bureau for additional investigation, and on August 29 the bureau concluded its investigation and reported [its findings] back to our procuratorate.

Following investigation in accordance with the law, it was ascertained that from March 16 to 18, 2008, defendant Gonpo Tserang used the Internet and a mobile telephone to send inflammatory emails and messages that distorted the facts and true situation regarding social stability in the Tibetan area following the “March 14 incident” to Daiwei, Jimu, and Pan Feilaici, [who were all] outside the country.
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- June 23, 2009 6:52 PM
Music: The Songs of the People’s Judges, Procurators, and Police

Hear three songs, “The Song of the People’s Judges,” “The Song of the People’s Procurators,” and “The Song of the People’s Police.”

The Song of the People’s Judges　(人民法官之歌):

See Chinese lyrics and music at chinacourt.org, a site sponsored by the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC.

Translated lyrics via Donald Clarke of China Law Prof Blog:

Let loyalty be cast in the magnificent state seal
And support the golden balance-scales with impartiality
Open up and advance along the road to construction of the legal system
The spring wind of law blows across the cities and the villages.

To investigate the smallest detail, to eliminate the false and keep the true is our duty
To punish evil and promote good, and to support justice is our mission
O, be proud, people’s judges of the Republic!
O, be proud, people’s judges of the Republic!
Glory belongs to us
Glory belongs to the motherland
Glory belongs to the people!

Let loyalty be cast in the magnificent state seal
And support the golden balance-scales with impartiality
Open up and advance along the road to construction of the legal system
The spring wind of law blows across the cities and the villages.

To be loyal to the law and to strictly carry out the law is our bounden duty
To serve the people and to contribute selflessly is our sincere wish
O, be proud, people’s judges of the Republic!
O, be proud, people’s judges of the Republic!
Glory belongs to us
Glory belongs to the motherland
Glory belongs to the people!
Glory belongs to the people! [Above, a chorus in Zhejiang, via qtfy.gov.cn.]

Information about the song and its writer can be found at chinamil.com.cn. A translated summary by CDT:
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- May 16, 2009 8:54 PM
China strips courts of enforcer role in new reform – Ho Binh Minh

From Reuters, via The Star Online:

China has banned local courts from helping officials enforce controversial social policies such as strict family planning and demolition of property for redevelopment, state media said on Thursday.

The move is part of efforts to give more independence to a judiciary, which human rights groups say is more inclined to bolster the Communist Party’s grip on power than to ensure justice is served.

“People’s courts are not part of township party committees or governments … Any participation in administrative law enforcement is wrong”, the China Youth Daily quoted a Supreme Court circular as saying.

“Township-level courts have been frequently required to take part in daily administrative activities such as demolition, family planning law enforcement, taxation … The courts, which have the obligation to be neutral, cannot take part in any of these.”
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- September 30, 2005 4:56 AM