Henan to publish cuts to criminal sentences, parole deals

Henan province has made further steps in promoting judicial transparency, announcing that it will make public decisions on commuted sentences and parole for convicted criminals.

The applications and subsequent decisions on the cases will be made public, Zhang Yunlong, presiding judge of the commutation and parole division under the provincial high people's court, said Wednesday at a press conference.

The new regulations made special mention of those convicted of three types of crime, duty, financial or gang crime. Applications from those involved with these categories of crimes will be strictly vetted, said Zhang, and a ratio imposed for those approved. The sentence cuts or parole decisions should not be higher than for other types of criminals.

If officials were convicted of a crime, applications from them will be referred to the provincial high people's court or even submitted to the Supreme People's Court for record review, he said.

"If these [officials'] cases are overturned by a higher court, it will influence the evaluation of our judicial management in lower courts," Zhang said.

"This move is the result of extensive violations by those convicted of these [three types of] crimes, who usually have the money and relationships to get sentences commuted or probation," said Chen Zhonglin, dean of the Law School at Chongqing University. However, as a last resort, ratio control is not a fair solution anyway, and it would be adjusted after the situation changes for the better, Chen added.

The new regulation states that those sentenced to life in any of the three special categories must serve at least 17 years, and those who received a suspended death sentence will serve at least 22 years.

The province's new rules follow guidelines released in February by the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. This stressed tighter regulation on procedures on commutation, parole and serving a sentence out of jail for medical reasons.

Besides setting up the nation's first commutation and parole division in October 2012, the Henan provincial high people's court also regulated that public notice should be made in advance to the convicts' fellow prisoners for commutation and parole cases, and if there are impeachments or complaints, the cases will be heard in public, according to Dahe Daily.

Zhang Liyong, Henan high court president, proposed at the current two sessions to include the law on commutation and parole into national legislation, and set specific standards and probationary period for these cases, Dahe Daily reported.

The deficiency in legislation and regulation has caused mismanagement of justice, he was quoted as saying.