Stabilize the "ballast stone" of the rule of law and move forward towards fairness and justice
Reform of the judicial system enhances the sense of security of the masses
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Xian Oujie
"Loyal to the "Constitution of the People's Republic of China", safeguarding the authority of the Constitution, performing statutory duties, loyal to the motherland, loyal to the people..." On July 3, 2017, at No. 27 Dongjiaomin Lane, Beijing, Zhou Qiang, President of the Supreme People's Court, led 367 judges to hold a meeting Solemn oath of first post judges.
In July of the same year, the Supreme Procuratorate also selected the first batch of prosecutors.
At this time, there were more than 120,000 paid judges and more than 90,000 paid prosecutors nationwide.
This means that the reform of the post system, which is recognized as the "hardest bone" in the reform of the judicial system, has been "gnawed down" as a whole.
In the past, there were some problems in my country's judicial management system and judicial power operation mechanism: those who tried did not judge, those who judged did not try, the authority was unclear, and the responsibilities were unclear.
The CPC Central Committee decided to further promote the reform of the judicial system, with the reform of the judicial responsibility system as the core, which General Secretary Xi Jinping called the "bull nose" of the reform.
The reform of the post system is the cornerstone of the reform of the judicial accountability system.
Back in November 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made an overall arrangement for "building China under the rule of law" and launched a new round of judicial reform; 111 reform arrangements for the judiciary and improving judicial credibility; so far, the Party Central Committee has drawn up a blueprint for the reform of the judicial system with 129 tasks.
The post system, the filing and registration system, the correction of wrongful convictions, the leniency system for admitting guilt and accepting punishment... A self-revolution that touches the soul in the judicial field has opened the curtain.
The reform of the judicial system since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has become a booster for China to move towards the rule of law. In 2021, the national sense of security will reach 98.6%, and China has become one of the safest countries in the world.
Let the referee referee the referee
Shanghai is one of the first seven pilot provinces and cities for judicial responsibility system reform. In order to make outstanding judges stand out, Shanghai has set the examination as voluntary registration, written test, interview and other links.
"As an old comrade, you must first show your support for judicial reform. You should take the exam." At that time, Judge Wang Yaqin of the Trial Supervision Division of the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, with more than 30 years of experience in handling cases, sound psychological quality and solid business skills , successfully passed the selection interview and became a post judge.
In 2021, there will be about 127,000 judges nationwide, with an average of 240 cases accepted and 188 cases closed per capita; the leaders of the National Procuratorate's Admissions Court handled a total of 678,000 cases, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the reform and reconstruction of the judicial power allocation and operation mechanism have significantly improved the credibility of the law enforcement and judicial system.
In order to solve the problem that everyone can handle a case, the handling of a case must be submitted for approval at various levels, and the responsibilities are unclear, and the classified management of judicial personnel and the judicial responsibility system are implemented.
The staff of the court and procuratorate are also divided into three categories: judges and prosecutors, judicial auxiliary personnel, and judicial administrative personnel.
Jing Hanchao, deputy secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, said that a certain proportion of people with strong politics, high level of case handling and outstanding performance will be selected to serve as judges and prosecutors. "Who decides who is responsible", the case handling responsibility system greatly strengthens the responsibility of case handlers.
"Actively carry out the reform of the judicial responsibility system, make the adjudicators judge and make the judges responsible. Generally, the collegial panel or sole judge will directly decide the case and be responsible for life. Supervision and management of 4 types of cases including difficult and complex cases to ensure 'decentralization without laissez-faire'." said Shen Liang, vice president of the Supreme People's Court.
Wrongful case accountability forced to improve judicial case handling capacity
In August 2020, Zhang Yuhuan, who had been detained for nearly 27 years and had been given a suspended death sentence for intentional homicide, was acquitted.
Zhang Yuhuan case, Zhang Zhichao case... In 2021, the Supreme People's Procuratorate will initiate accountability for 246 criminal wrongful cases that have been corrected since 2018, directly supervise the handling of 22 wrongful detentions for more than 10 years, and strictly hold 511 prosecutors accountable. .
Behind the grievances, the reform of the criminal procedure system centered on trial is the result of the continuous ice breaking, which shows the great progress of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics.
In 2013, the Central Politics and Law Commission issued the guiding opinions on effectively preventing wrongful convictions.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee further proposed to improve the mechanism for effective prevention and timely correction of wrongful convictions.
Since then, the judicial concept centered on trial has been implemented, the standard of evidence in criminal cases has been continuously improved, and efforts have been made to systematically prevent the occurrence of wrongful convictions.
Yang Chunlei, deputy chief prosecutor of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that in the case of Sun Xiaoguo, only one or two prosecutors were dealt with at first. The Supreme People's Procuratorate's party group believes that the procuratorial organs have supervisory responsibilities. How can the procuratorial organs not be held responsible for such a big case?
In the end, 12 people who violated the procuratorial duties were dealt with separately.
At the same time of accountability, through self-examination by the procuratorial organs, special governance has been carried out on "lazy and disorderly", and the "temporary reduction of leave" (i.e., illegal commutation, parole, temporary execution outside prison) for violations of laws and regulations, inadequate supervision of litigation, and procuratorial personnel Issues such as the lack of a strong awareness of the judiciary have been dealt with.
Yang Chunlei said that the next step will continue to punish procuratorial staff who violate the law and even commit crimes by coercion, so that they have awe of the law, have faith, know that rights and responsibilities coexist, prevent the abuse of procuratorial power, and promote further procuratorial staff. Establish evidence awareness and procedural awareness, and force the improvement of judicial case handling capabilities.
"Having power comes with responsibility, and handling cases for life is definitely not empty talk." Yang Chunlei said that accountability for wrongful cases is of great significance and has obvious results. Error correction cannot stop at state compensation, and accountability must fall to the responsible body.
Internet Justice: China is at the forefront of the world
When it comes to lawsuits, ordinary people often think of "the door is difficult to enter", "the face is ugly", and the "things are difficult to handle".
Since May 1, 2015, the case-filing registration system has been implemented, and "difficulty in filing cases" has become a thing of the past. Currently, more than 95.7% of the cases in courts across the country are filed on the spot.
The hard-earned money of construction worker Lao Zhang and more than 10 co-workers could not be cashed. He went to Beijing Tongzhou District People's Court to seek help, and the case was successfully filed in a few steps.
After the national courts implemented the case-filing registration system, the Tongzhou District People's Court adopted various convenience measures such as appointment-filing and online case-filing.
From the "case-filing review system" to the "case-filing registration system", the change of two characters has enabled more conflicts and disputes to be resolved through legal channels.
The establishment of Hangzhou Internet Court in 2017 is a major institutional innovation for the judiciary to actively adapt to the general trend of Internet development.
my country's judiciary closely follows the pace of the digital age, and contributes to the development of the Internet rule of law in the world with China's smart China solutions, such as the promotion of "global digital courts" by Zhejiang courts, the launch of the procuratorial business application system 2.0, and the iterative upgrade of online case handling.
Today, ordinary people can not only file online cases without leaving their homes, but also file cross-domain cases at home: in 2021, courts across the country will file 11.439 million online cases and hold 1.275 million online trials; there will be more than 13,000 cross-region filing sites covering both urban and rural areas. Achieved 90% of the applications responded within 30 minutes...
"Case filing, payment, trial, investigation, service and various litigation services can be carried out online, and some parties can file a lawsuit with just a mobile phone, which is very convenient. In the issue of Internet justice, China is indeed at the forefront of the world. ” said Jing Hanchao, deputy secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, judicial organs at all levels across the country have continued to implement comprehensive and supporting reforms of the judicial system, and promoted the realization of historic changes in the field of politics and law in the new era.
At the same time, speeding up the construction of a fair, efficient and authoritative socialist judicial system has laid a solid foundation for opening up a new realm of "governance in China", and constantly improving reform measures that are convenient and beneficial to the people, and the people's sense of gain, happiness and security is constantly improving. promote.
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Public Welfare "Procuratorial Blue" Guards the Yangtze River
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Zhu Juanjuan correspondent Dai Xiaowei
This past spring, villagers along the Liujia River, a tributary of the Han River in Tianmen City, Hubei Province, noticed that the ground cage nets that used to be all over the river had disappeared. .
Back in November 2021, the Hanjiang Branch of the People's Procuratorate of Hubei Province (hereinafter referred to as the "Hanjiang Branch") received news that someone had placed a cage net in this section of the river. The short three to five meters, the long ten meters, the large. When it comes to fish, as small as snails and small shrimp, "killing all sizes and killing them in one cage" not only seriously threatens the survival of fish and shrimp, but also hinders the safety of river flooding.
The Public Interest Litigation Prosecution Department of the Hanjiang Branch filed a case for investigation. Subsequently, a pre-litigation procuratorial recommendation was sent to the Tianmen Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, requesting to perform supervisory duties in accordance with the Fisheries Law and other relevant regulations, and to increase inspections and clean-up efforts in other waters.
Tianmen Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau immediately rectified after receiving the procuratorial suggestion.
On March 9, 2022, the prosecutor and relevant departments "looked back" at the scene, and the cage nets in the waters involved have been cleaned up.
At the same time, the Tianmen Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau carried out a clean-up operation in the city's public waters, cleaning up more than 1,000 ground cage nets and more than 2,000 wire meshes.
The case had the effect of "governing one piece".
But prosecutors didn't stop there.
"Prosecutorial supervision of public interest litigation cannot be 'headache for the head, foot pain for the foot'." It is understood that the Hanjiang Branch will continue to follow up, and urge functional departments to carry out source control from the aspect of standardizing the sales and use of cage nets.
Strive to use the minimum judicial resources to achieve and maintain social welfare
Hubei Province is located at the "waist" of the Yangtze River, and is the only province where the main line of the Yangtze River runs for more than 1,000 kilometers.
Governing the "ground cage net" that endangers the river ecology is just a microcosm of Hubei's procuratorial organs' use of public interest litigation to protect the mother river.
In June 2018, the Hubei procuratorate launched the "Special Action on Public Interest Litigation for Ecological Protection in the Yangtze River Basin".
A year later, the Hubei Provincial People's Procuratorate came up with a dazzling report card: the procuratorial public interest litigation departments of the province have filed more than 1,800 cases around the ecological protection of the Yangtze River, which directly prompted administrative organs at all levels to carry out more than 120 industry rectifications and urge restoration. More than 63,000 mu of polluted waters were treated, and 96.6 kilometers of waterways of the main and tributaries of the Yangtze River were cleaned up illegally.
The special action encourages all localities to adjust measures according to local conditions and determine the focus of supervision in the region.
Wuhan City, located in the center of the Jianghan Plain, where the Yangtze River and its largest tributary, the Han River, meet, is a key area for sand mining management.
On April 8, 2021, an administrative public interest lawsuit in which the Qiaokou District People's Procuratorate of Wuhan urges the Hannan District Water and Lakes Bureau to perform the supervision duties of sand mining in the Yangtze River has attracted attention from all walks of life.
From June to September 2019, Chen and others illegally mined more than 120,000 tons of sand in the Yangtze River, worth 7.6945 million yuan.
After the local supervision department seized the "three noes" sand mining ship involved, they fined Chen and others 30,000 yuan, and returned the sand mining ship involved in the case.
After that, Chen and others continued to use the boat to mine river sand until they were caught by the public security organs.
The procuratorial organ believes that the Hannan District Water and Lakes Bureau did not properly perform its duties and responsibilities, resulting in the loss of national resources, and filed an administrative public interest lawsuit, requesting the court to confirm that the bureau did not properly perform its duties of supervision and management of sand mining in the Yangtze River.
The case was pronounced in court, supporting all the prosecution's claims.
"We have fully recognized the insufficiency of supervision, and we have formulated a rectification plan internally and are actively rectifying it." The person in charge of the Hannan District Water Affairs and Lakes Bureau said in court that no matter what the verdict is, "we will strengthen self-examination and self-examination and perform diligently. job".
Taking this case as an opportunity, the Wuhan Municipal People's Procuratorate took the lead in setting up a special class for handling cases of illegal sand mining in the Yangtze River. and other issues, issued a procuratorial suggestion to the Wuhan Water Affairs Bureau.
"Handle one case, warn one, and manage one area".
Wuhan Water Affairs Bureau formulated and implemented rectification measures one by one, and detailed and issued the "Opinions on Further Regulating the Investigation and Punishment of Illegal Sand-related Behaviors in the Yangtze River Basin", "Wuhan Interim Measures for the Management of Centralized Dock (Arrest) of Sand-related Vessels", "Wuhan River Channels" Sand Mining Law Enforcement Guidelines and other systems, and carry out special rectification work in the field of natural resources.
The procuratorate continued to follow up, "At present, the sand mining control measures in the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River continue to be stricter, sand-related administrative law enforcement is further standardized, and illegal sand mining has been effectively curbed."
"Strive to use the minimum judicial resources to realize the maintenance of social welfare", around the protection of the mother river, Hubei procuratorial organs also used roundtable meetings, joint meetings, public announcements and other methods to promote administrative organs to perform their duties and correct mistakes.
Data show that since the launch of the special action, more than 90% of public interest litigations in the field of environmental protection in the Yangtze River Basin have received positive responses from administrative agencies through pre-litigation recommendations, prompting administrative agencies at all levels to actively carry out industry rectification and forming a joint force for the protection of the Yangtze River.
Procuratorial public interest litigation pushes provincial standing committees to issue special decisions
In addition to the main stream of the Yangtze River, Hubei, the "province of a thousand lakes", large and small lakes and wetlands within the territory are also the protection focus of the special action of public interest litigation.
"During the operation of Wanghu Great Lake, our company put phosphate-containing fertilizers for breeding, which caused pollution to the lake water... Here, I sincerely apologize to the general public and take it as a warning." January 2021, a letter The letter of apology signed "Huangshi Yangxinwang Lake Ecological Planting Co., Ltd., Huangshi City, Hubei Province" was publicly released in the local municipal media.
The apology letter relates to a public interest lawsuit.
Wanghu Lake is the main lake in the Wanghu Wetland Nature Reserve. It is located in the lower reaches of the Fushui River, a first-class tributary of the Yangtze River, and is directly related to the ecological environment of the Yangtze River.
From 2014 to 2016, the company contracted to carry out fish farming. In violation of legal regulations and contractual agreements, it put phosphorus-containing fertilizers into the lake, which caused the water quality to deteriorate.
Appointed by the People's Procuratorate of Hubei Province, Wuhan Railway Transportation Branch, as the public interest lawsuit plaintiff, filed an environmental civil public interest lawsuit, claiming 1.9467 million yuan for damages in the public interest lawsuit, which will be used for the overall governance and restoration of water bodies, and has been reported in the local city-level news. The media made a public apology to the society, which was supported by the court.
The case was selected as a typical case of Yangtze River ecological protection issued by the Supreme People's Court.
Hubei's public welfare "Procuratorial Blue" guarding the "waist" of the Yangtze River is inseparable from the attention of the local party committee, the supervision of the National People's Congress, and the support of the government.
In 2017, the Fifth Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress of Hubei Province voted to pass the "Decision on Vigorously Promoting Ecological Protection and Green Development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt", clearly proposing to "strengthen environmental protection public interest litigation".
In 2018, the General Office of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and the General Office of the Provincial Government issued the "Opinions on Supporting Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Work", which made it clear that party committees at all levels should include strengthening and supporting procuratorial organs in filing public interest litigation as an important work agenda.
In 2019, the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial People's Congress reviewed and approved the "Decision on Strengthening Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation", which is the second provincial-level Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to issue a special decision to support procuratorial public interest litigation.
The latest data from the Hubei Provincial People's Procuratorate shows that since June 2018, the Hubei Provincial Procuratorate has carried out a special campaign for ecological protection of the Yangtze River, and filed 12,573 cases in the fields of water resources, forests, coastline resources protection and biodiversity protection in the Yangtze River Basin. , issued 10,056 pre-litigation procuratorial recommendations and civil notices, prosecuted 761 cases, urged the restoration of 188 polluted water sources, shut down and rectified 412 illegal enterprises and farms, cleaned up 307 kilometers of the main and tributaries of the Yangtze River, and protected one river. Clear water flows eastward.
Source: China Youth Daily