Community correction law to help criminals integrate into society

The draft community correction law, introduced by the Ministry of Justice, has been submitted to a bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, for the first review on Tuesday.

The draft clarifies community correction targets criminals who have won reprieve, released on parole, placed under surveillance or permitted to serve the sentences out of jail.

The draft aims at improving the quality of community correction and assisting criminals to better integrate into the society, as well as preventing further crimes.

Judicial administration will be responsible for community correction, while courts, procuratorates and public security departments will coordinate, said Minister of Justice Fu Zhenghua while reporting the draft to the NPC Standing Committee.

Those responsible for community correction should have knowledge of law, and social entities will be encouraged to participate, Fu said.

The draft also offers a special section for juveniles that guides the community correction to protect and assist children.

Community correction as a crucial measure to punish offenders and maintain social stability had a pilot program in 2003 and was extended across the country in 2009. So far, about 700,000 criminals are under the program, according to the ministry.

The cost of community correction is about one-tenth of that used for prison, and 0.2 percent of those under community correction committed crime again, Fu said.