From July, people in criminal detention will be allowed to go home for one or two days a month to visit their families under a new regulation published at the weekend by the Ministry of Public Security.
Foreigners in criminal detention will be granted the same privilege, as long as they have relatives in China. They will not be allowed to leave the country, the regulation on the management of criminals in detention houses says.
Under Criminal Law, people sentenced to criminal detention - a court-issued punishment of usually less than six months - and those sentenced to less than one year's fixed-term imprisonment, are kept in detention houses rather than jails.
To ensure prisoners get their full two-day home stay, those who have to travel long distances home will be granted between three and seven days' leave each month under the new regulation. However, they must stay with relatives and register at the local police station.
The regulation also says all inmates of detention houses - both in criminal detention and under fixed-term imprisonment - have the right to receive visits from their relatives once or twice a month, and to make telephone calls to them.
Foreign criminals are allowed to receive relatives or embassy staff, but their initial applications to do so must be approved by a provincial-level public security department, according to the regulation.
The regulation also allows criminals to meet their lawyers to appeal or report other crimes.
Detention houses are also encouraged to set up classrooms, libraries, computer and consulting rooms, and allow inmates to study for higher education qualifications.
The new rules have been well received by the press. Several newspapers, including the Beijing News and Jiangnan Metropolitan Daily, have run comment pieces saying the move reflects a respect for the legitimate rights of criminals.
"The change also reflects a broader picture that the country is making great efforts to protect the rights and interests of all its citizens," the Beijing News said in a comment on Sunday.
Some scholars, however, have said the rules should have been introduced much earlier.
Chen Xingliang, a criminal law professor at Peking University, said: "Since 1979, the Criminal Law has included stipulations on family reunion leave for people in criminal detention.
"But because of the lack of detailed implementation rules and management difficulties, they haven't been effectively carried out."
In the past, detention houses tended to release inmates a few days before the end of their sentences to offset the lack of family leave, Chen said.
But the new rule clearly bans this and adheres to the Criminal Law, he said.
(China Daily March 25, 2008)