China standardizes when to give criminals leniency in court

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-20 19:19

BEIJING - China has adopted stricter rules for doling out lighter punishments for corrupt officials.

Thursday, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued a circular about penalties for people who turn themselves in or cooperate with investigations in graft and corruption cases.

Surveys by the country's two top judicial organs found that the rate of giving lighter sentences or exemptions from punishment to criminals had been too high in the past few years, according to the circular. No specific figures were released.

"This showed that the recognition of what can lead to lighter punishment is not properly standardized," the circular said.

Only those who turned themselves in and confessed all their crimes to police before an investigation began, could be recognized as making major contributions to cases, according to the circular.

Those who turned themselves in after hearing from the police that they were under investigation, or did not confess all their crimes, would not be considered for lighter punishment, the circular said.

Only those who volunteered to return all illicitly-gained money and goods before the police made a request for their return could be recognized as making contributions to cases, according to the circular.

Only criminals themselves reporting their accomplice to the police could be considered for reduced sentences. Their family members and relatives offering information about accomplices in the cases did not meet requirements for lighter punishment, the circular said.

The circular also tightened criteria for the recognition of making a confession to police. It said, "only those who confess all other major crimes when the police only know part of total crime" could be regarded as making a confession.

"This was to stress the importance of a whole confession in addition to turning oneself in and confessing part of the crime," the circular said, adding that these rules would hopefully make the process of getting a lighter punishment more standard.