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Week's special: Corruption judge on handling bribery cases |
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18:00, July 20, 2007 |
 | | Ren Weihua, presiding judge of the second criminal court of the Supreme Court, poses for a photo before the logo of Strong China Forum, a feature of People's Daily Online on July 19, 2007. |
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The Supreme Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate promulgated the Opinion on Some Issues Concerning the Application of Law for Handling Cases of Taking Bribes (hereinafter referred to as Opinion) on July 8, which defines disguised bribery behaviors and the application of the law governing such cases.
This is regarded as another important measure Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has taken for punishing the crime of bribery according to law and advancing the anti-corruption campaign.
At the invitation of People's Daily Online, Ren Weihua, presiding judge of the second criminal court of the Supreme Court visited the Strong Nation Forum, and answered questions raised by netizens on the Opinion and the anti-corruption efforts of the country.
View the Chinese version, please click here.
Implications of the Opinion
The Opinion is a response to new challenges in the country's anti-corruption campaign. It is designed to confirm and make rulings on briberies which are disguised under legal actions, for example, taking bribes in the form of transactions, equities, financial services, serving special interest groups for the exchange of cushion rewards after the tenure.
The document was issued after the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a notice in June to crack down on misconducts seeking for unjust interests by abusing the power.
The role of the Party
The Central Commission of Discipline Inspection and judiciary departments share the same responsibilities of fighting against corruption. The former usually investigated the cases that violated the discipline. In the case of violation of the law, the case is then transferred to judiciary department.
The discipline inspection committees in the Party are responsible investigating into misconducts of Party members. For those party members and cadres who violated law must be punished within party before being tried in court.
The Commission of Politics and Law, which is also a Party organization, also plays a role in tackling bribery cases. It helps coordination of attitudes of departments responsible for handling the same case.
However, the Commission may propose its comments on the case to the court. It is up to the court to decide whether the Commission’s proposals should be adopted.
Bribers
There are much fewer cases in which bribers commit crimes and punished, compared with those in which bribery receiver are detected and punished. Bribers are found guilty when they seek for illegitimate interests. However, the interests many "bribers" sought are legitimate in many cases.
Additionally, under some special conditions, the bribers are not necessarily declared guilty even if he/she commits criminal offense. For example, there is a "stain witness system” in some countries, which exempt witness from possible legal actions against him/her for the exchange of his/her testimony.
In his response to the concern of the judicial corruption, Ren said an individual in the judicial system would be "finished" but the community would not. He took the example of Francis Bacon who was a great philosopher and a corruptive judge in Britain. Britain has become a country ruled by law.
By People's Daily Online
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