Opinion | Rule of law must be the foundation of Chinese governance
Hu Shuli says since the concept was first discussed in 1979, it has gained public approval and must remain the acceptable option in a modern world
China's top leaders have been meeting this week on how to strengthen the rule of law. At the fourth plenum of the Communist Party's 18th Central Committee, which concludes on Thursday, the focus has been to improve the institutions that safeguard the abuse of power. Further, it is hoped that the crackdown on corruption will lead China to modernise its governance.
As officials well know, China must build a "firewall" against corruption. Since early last year, the government has worked on the belief that while it must address the root causes of corruption, the focus in the beginning must nevertheless be on tackling the symptoms, in order to buy time to find and implement longer-term solutions. Arguably, it's time now for the corruption fight to lead to governance reform.
Although many concrete safeguards are not yet in place, there is now a framework for action. Among the new measures, some are already working. Of particular note are the rules concerning plea agreements.
On October 13, the , a publication of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, revisited the old case of Yu Zhendong, the corrupt former head of the Bank of China's branch in Kaiping, Guangdong. Yu, who was wanted for bribery and embezzlement, had fled to the US in 2001. On China's request, US authorities arrested him for immigration violations a year later and eventually repatriated him to China, after negotiating a plea agreement in which the Chinese government promised he would not be tortured or put to death, in exchange for a guilty plea.
Plea bargains originate in the US justice system. They are agreements between the prosecutor and the defendant, under which the defendant will plead guilty in return for some concessions, such as a lesser charge or a recommendation for a more lenient sentence. Thus, a plea deal allows both sides to avoid trial.
In America today, about 90 per cent of criminal cases are settled through plea agreements. They are also increasingly used in Italy, Germany, Russia and other jurisdictions.
Under revamped, simpler rules on criminal suits, China's top courts and prosecutors appear to have introduced elements of the plea bargaining system into the legal system.
