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STATE ORGANS | THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA | MULTI-PARTY COOPERATION AND THE POLITICAL CONSULTATIVE SYSTEM | JURISDICTION | HONG KONG | MACAO | TAIWAN | RELIGION | RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES |
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Jurisdiction |
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First Trial Cases by Courts |
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| Appeals Handled by Procurator's Offices | ||||||||
| Cases Under Direct Investigation by Procurator's Offices | ||||||||
| First Trial Criminal Cases Accepted and Settled by Courts | ||||||||
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The aim and the tasks of China's judicial work are to protect the basic
rights, freedom and other lawful rights and interests of all citizens in
accordance with the law, protect public property and lawfully-owned
private property of citizens, maintain social order, guarantee the smooth
progress of the socialist modernization undertakings and punish
law-breakers according to law.
In 2000, the Supreme People's Court, under the supervision of the NPC
and its Standing Committee, earnestly fulfill the duties entrusted by the
Constitution and law, making fresh achievements in adjudication work and
the work in various other aspects.
In the year, it accepted a total of 4,228 second instance and death
penalty review cases and concluded 4,832 cases (including those left from
the previous year). Local people's courts at various levels and special
people's courts totally accepted 5.35 million first instance cases and
concluded 5.38 million (including those left over from the previous year).
The courts took, as their most important task, the maintenance of
national security and social stability. They sternly cracked down in
accordance with the law on crimes aimed at endangering national security,
subverting State power and damaging national unity; violent crimes such as
homicide, robbery, causing explosions and kidnapping; and crimes related
to organized crime and drugs, and involving abduction and trafficking of
women and children, and the production, sale and spreading of pornographic
products and illegal publications. Struggles were also launched according
to law to crack down on crimes involving smuggling, foreign exchange
fraud, invoicing fraudulent VAT bills, export refund fraud, forging money
notes and selling and transporting counterfeit money, and producing and
marketing shabby goods. Severe punishments were meted out according to law
on crimes involving embezzlement, bribery, misappropriation of public
funds and dereliction of duties.
The Falun Gong cult is a malignant tumor poisoning society and
undermining the advancement of human civilization. It has seriously
disturbed China's economic construction, public order and political
stability. The people's courts, in strict accordance with the Criminal Law
and relevant judicial interpretation, conscientiously handled the criminal
cases involving organization and employment of the Falun Gong cult to
disrupt the enforcement of the law, cause deaths, organize gatherings to
disrupt public order, and illegally print, deal and spread cult publicity
materials. A few key members of the Falun Gong cult, who had violated the
criminal law, were convicted and punished according to law. All this fully
reflected the seriousness of the law.
Gang-related crimes have seriously threatened the safety of lives and
property of the people. The Supreme People's Court worked out the
Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning Specific Applicable Laws for
Handling Gang-Related Crimes. Courts nationwide devoted efforts to
adjudicating a number of gang-related cases, suppressing the swelling
arrogance of crimes of this type.
The crimes involving abduction and trafficking of women and children
have greatly harmed their mental and physical health. The Supreme People's
Court issued, together with relevant departments, the Circular on
Crackdown on Crimes Involving Abduction and Trafficking of Women and
Children, strengthening the struggle against offenses of this kind. Courts
across the country imposed sentences on a total of 11,048 criminals
involved in the abduction and trafficking of women and children.
Smuggling crimes have seriously disrupted the market economic order and
caused heavy economic losses to the State. Courts nationwide totally
adjudicated 847 smuggling cases in 2000, up 122 percent over the previous
year. A major smuggling case in Xiamen, involving a huge amount of money
and featuring an extremely serious nature, threatened severe harm to
society. The Supreme People's Court examined and approved the death
penalty meted out to the seven chief criminals, including Wang Jinting,
involved in the first batch of cases adjudicated. Relevant people's courts
also sentenced 73 other criminals to fixed-term imprisonment, life
imprisonment or the death penalty with a two-year suspension of execution.
Judgments of first instance have been given to the 129 defendants involved
in the second batch of cases adjudicated.
The crimes involving the forgery of money notes and sale and
transportation of counterfeit currency seriously undermined the stability
of national financial order. In 2000, courts nationwide adjudicated 4,740
cases involving this category of crimes, a rise of 12.14 percent over the
previous year. Zhuo Zhenyuan and other 11 people, involved in the most
serious fake money case since the founding of New China, forged and sold
counterfeit money notes worth over 600 million yuan. The Supreme People's
Court examined and approved the death penalty meted out to Zhuo Zhenyuan
and other six chief criminals.
The crimes of embezzlement and bribery are a serious public hazard, for
which the people have a deep-seated hatred. Courts nationwide imposed
sentences according to law on 17,931 criminals involved in crimes of this
category. The Supreme People's Court examined and approved according to
law the death penalty given to Cheng Kejie, Hu Changqing, Zhou Changqing
who had embezzled and misappropriated 50.95 million yuan of public funds,
and Xu Jie and Du Jiansheng, who had embezzled 72.72 million yuan of
public funds. This demonstrated the principle of equality for everyone
before the law and the firm resolution of the Party and State for fighting
against corruption.
In 2000, courts nationwide totally imposed sentences on more than
640,000 criminals, a rise of 6.21 percent over the previous year.
The courts have been strict with enforcement of laws and strengthened
judicial guarantee for human rights. In 2000, a total of 6,617 people were
acquitted. Of them, 2,591 were judged innocent due to ambiguity of the
facts or lack of evidence, and 4,026 were acquitted because their behavior
had not constituted a crime. This confirmed that innocent citizens are
free from legal responsibility and law-abiding citizens are immune from
injustice.
Handling the cases involving the economic, intellectual property rights
and maritime affairs in accordance with the law is of significance to
regulating the market order. In 2000, the courts handled the cases related
to the corporate reform of State-owned enterprises (SOE), agriculture and
rural economic development and involving financial disputes according to
law. This provided guarantee for the deepening of SOE reform and
safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of various types of main
players of the market, including non-State enterprises and foreign-funded
ventures. They conscientiously handled the cases related to intellectual
property rights, protecting the lawful rights and interests of the
intellectual property rights owners. The Supreme People's Court formulated
the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning Applicable Laws for
Handling Cases Involving Computer Network Copyright Disputes, with an aim
of protecting the intellectual property rights related to networks.
In 2000, more than 9.39 million letters and visits were handled, which
played an active role in maintaining social stability.
According to the principles of "one country, two systems" and
"high degree of autonomy", the Supreme People's Court reached
agreements with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the mutual
authorization and service of judicial documents in civil or commercial
matters between hinterland and Hong Kong SAR courts and on mutual
enforcement of arbitration awards. After that, the court has conducted
many consultations with the Macao SAR concerning the mutual authorization
and service of judicial documents in civil or commercial matters and
taking of evidence. The formal signing of relevant documents will further
promote the judicial contacts and cooperation between the hinterland and
Macao. In 2000, procuratorial organs nationwide strengthened the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving embezzlement, bribery and dereliction of duty, with 45,113 such cases being put on file for investigation and more than 4.7 billion yuan worth of direct economic losses retrieved for the State. 1 | 2 |
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