Fighting Corruption With Law

By+Zeng+Wenhui

on March 13， the Second Session of the 12th National Peoples Congress （NPC） concluded in Beijing. At a press conference held right after the closing of the annual parliamentary session， Premier Li Keqiang reiterated that China will show “zero-tolerance” to corrupt officials.

“China is a country under rule of law. No matter who he is， and how senior his position is， if he violates Party discipline and the law of the country， he will be punished to the full extent， because everybody is equal before the law，” Li said.

Before this years NPC session started， China Youth Daily conducted a telephone sur- vey among 65 NPC deputies on topics that they were most concerned with.

The survey showed that the three topics that received the most attention were anti-corruption， reform and peoples livelihood， which accounted for 67.1， 62.4 and 52.9 percent of respondents， respectively.

Legal enhancements

On March 10， while delivering a work report to lawmakers， Cao Jianming， Procurator General of the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate， said that 37，551 corruption cases involving 51，306 per- sons were probed in 2013.

According to Cao， procuratorial departments across the country investigated 2，871 public servants at county levels and above last year， including 253 at city levels and eight at provincial and ministerial levels， in 2，581 cases of graft， bribery， and embezzlement of public funds involving more than 1 million yuan（$161，000）.

“In the past two years， anticorruption efforts have produced very good results. yet the better the results are， the more the general public worry about whether or not the battle against corruption is sustainable. Hence， many people have called for the establishment of an effective long-term mechanism against corruption，” Wu Qing， an NPC deputy from Guangdong Province and partner of the King& Wood Mellesons law firm， told Beijing Review.

Wu said that legislation against corruption must be strengthened so as to combat corruption in an institutionalized and standardized way.

In his interview with Beijing Review， Chen Xu， an NPC deputy and Procurator General of the Shanghai Municipal Peoples Procuratorate， stressed that a comprehensive anti-corruption law must be made and anti-corruption agencies should be given a greater degree of independence and more power.

Chen said that in China， anti-corruption agencies include procuratorial departments and anti-corruption bureaus， yet there is not a specific law to codify their responsibilities， tasks，as well as work procedures and methods. “These legal rights can only be conferred by law，” he added.endprint

prevention and control

NPC deputy Zhao Kai， an official from the Work Committee of Departments under the Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee， called for making an anti-corruption law integrating relevant contents in substantive laws， procedural laws， administrative laws and organizational laws so as to boost anticorruption work in accordance with concrete legislation.

When investigating corruption cases， procuratorial departments should thoroughly analyze the process that turns people into criminals， uncover blind spots where power has not been supervised， and inform relevant organizations of these blind spots so as to help them prevent corruption， according to Chi Qiang， Procurator General of the Beijing Municipal Peoples Procuratorate. Chi made the remark during a panel discussion by Beijings NPC deputies on the work reports of the Supreme Peoples Court and the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate on March 11.

Chis opinion was echoed by Chen from Shanghai， who suggests that a special department to prevent corruption should be set up in anti-corruption agencies.

Chen said that Hong Kongs Independent Commission Against Corruption has a corruption prevention division dedicated to preventing graft in the government， public institutions and enterprises. Staff members at the division can attend meetings and read documents of these organizations to identify loopholes and put forward suggestions for improvement.

Wu from Guangdong commented that both punishment and prevention are essential in the fight against corruption. “Prevention should be a key focus in the legal system when it comes to corruption，” she noted.

According to Wu， currently punitive laws against corruption， such as the Criminal Law， the Criminal Procedure Law， the Civil Service Law and the Administrative Supervision Law， outnumber preventive laws. In the meantime， corruption prevention mainly relies on the internal rules of the CPC， such as the CPC Central Committees eight-point rule on fighting bureaucracy and formalism and rejecting extravagance among Party members， as well as the regulations requiring officials to report personal affairs.

“The CPCs internal rules should be enacted into laws，” Wu said. “Laws are legally binding and offenders will receive more severe penalties.”

practical measures

During this years NPC session， deputies have put forward specific proposals on preventing， reporting and punishing corruption.endprint

Cai yi， Director General of the Hong Kong Island Federation， said that anti-corruption reporting through the Internet should be encouraged and corruption will be nipped in the bud through such efforts.

In his work report， Procurator General Cao also pledged to establish a corruption-reporting system based on letters， visits， phone calls and the Internet.

Wu said that while the Internet is an effective tool to report corruption， it should be used appropriately. “If an anti-corruption law can be enacted， it should include provisions on exposing corruption through the Internet，” she said. For instance， Wu said that the law should specify the legal responsibilities of any person fabricating evidence and defaming others for corruption.

Chen Jingying， Dean of the Law School of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics， told Beijing Review that now many officials have been punished after being caught for corruption， in fact， preventive measures should be taken before their promotion， for instance， officials should be required to disclose their assets.

Hua Bei， deputy head of the Shanghai Administration of Supervision， said that various organizations should make coordinated efforts to fight against corruption， such as sharing banking and real estate information. “China should strengthen judicial cooperation with other countries in order to capture fleeing corrupt officials and recover stolen money or goods，”she noted.

“International cooperation to prevent corruption is a strong deterrence. It tells corrupt officials that wherever you escape to， you will be caught eventually，” Wu said.

Zhang Xuequn， President of the yunnan Provincial Higher Peoples Court， said that while bribe takers should be severely punished， so should those paying the bribes.

Qiu Guanghe， Board Chairman of the Zhejiang Semir Group， a casual wear manufacturer， proposed increasing penalties to offenders committing commercial bribery and setting up a commercial bribery crime database and social credit system so as to promote the healthy and sustainable development of private businesses.

Dong Mingzhu， Chairwoman of Gree Electric Appliances， Inc. of Zhuhai in Guangdong， said that a business manager should always keep his or her bottom line in mind， and should not engage in under-the-counter deals with officials to maximize profit.

In addition to punishing bribers， anti-bribery rules should be updated to include new forms of bribing， said Chen Xu， the prosecutor from Shanghai.

“Previously， laws mainly address briberies in the form of money and goods， while leaving out those in the form of job offers， education financing， future transactions and even sex services，” Chen Xu said. “These new forms of briberies should be added into relevant laws.”

“Corruption is a natural enemy of the peoples government，” Premier Li said at the March 13 press conference， “We must put the exercise of power and the use of public money under institutional supervision.”

Li said that the government will continue to streamline administration and delegate power， and it will release a list of activities that require government approval as soon as possible to set clear boundaries and ensure that power will not be abused.endprint