Winds of Change in China?

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Thursday December 06, 2007 10:03 by China watcher

Academics and leading lawyers demand and end to "laojiao"

A group of leading Chinese lawyers and academics have demanded immediate abolition of the country's infamous system of "laojiao" (re-education through labour), saying it is a serious impediment to efforts to bring about the rule of law in China.

The "re-education through labour" system allows the police to jail everyone, from political dissidents to drug addicts and prostitutes, for up to four years without going through the courts. There has been talk of scrapping it as part of legal reforms, but so far only cosmetic changes have been made. But now 69 well-known experts and rights advocates have petitioned the legislature to immediately examine and abolish the system, saying it contravenes the Chinese constitution.

"The re-education through labour system has lasted for half a century and is increasingly contrary to the tide of the times," runs the petition, which was issued online on the China Lawyers Observer web. "It is seriously impeding our country's progress towards rule of law."

There are 310 "re-education centres" around the country and around 400,000 people have been imprisoned in the 50 years since the rules were introduced. Sentences are typically one or two years and detainees are required to carry out penal labour.

The debate on "lanjiao" focuses mainly on the issue of who decides on China's judicial system - the courts or the public security apparatus.

Under the current "lanjiao" system, there is no judicial review at all until the punishment has been imposed.

The police say it is a useful way of controlling petty crime and rehabilitating drug addicts, and also simplifies the process of investigative detention.

There have been moves lately to reform China's legal system, with calls from senior judiciary to reduce the number of executions.

This year, China's Supreme People's Court took back the power of final review over all death sentences, taking away the power of final review from provincial courts and leading to fewer executions.

China is aware that next year's Olympic Games will bring the attention of the world to bear on its human rights record, and the government is also keen to stop the potentially destabilising effects of calls for judicial reform.