New rules limit petition process

The Shanghai government put new rules into effect Monday that govern how residents can file formal complaints with the government, local media reported Monday.

The new rules aim to corral more petitioners into the legal system, as opposed to the long-practiced procedure of directly seeking help from high-level officials.

Society has witnessed a growing number of petition cases in recent years, said Ding Wei, director of the Subcommittee of Legislative Affairs of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee. "Over the years, most petitioners have relied heavily on help from high officials, rather than the legal system," Ding said in a report in the Xinmin Evening News.

The petition system has a long history in China, allowing individuals and groups to make grievances to higher-level government agencies or officials, especially in cases when the complaints related to a lower level of the government. The system is supposed to protect an individual's rights and serve as a way to supervise public officials.

The rules stem from new amendments that aim to separate the roles of different parts of the government, such as the Shanghai People's Congress, the courts, the police, the prosecutor's offices and the judicial bureaus, according to a report in the Wenhui Daily.

The amendments stipulate rules that encourage government petition offices to push residents to wait to finish their court cases before going through the petition process.

One of main functions of the rules will be to screen out petitions that are currently being handled in the court, allowing the courts to make their ruling on the matter without interference.

"There are a lot of petition cases in which petitioners are unhappy with the court's ruling, so they petition the administrative departments before the court can give a final ruling," said Shi Jiansan, a researcher at the Institute of Law at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

When someone files a petition while involved in a court case, it causes problems, Shi told the Global Times. It could affect a court's ruling, impair its authority and lower its efficiency.

The amendments also give the local people's congress and its standing committee the power to accept and handle petition cases as a way to supervise government agencies.