Courts acquitted 1,039 defendants in 2015

Chinese courts acquitted 1,039 defendants last year, China's top court announced on Monday in a report on judicial reform.

"It's an effective way to protect human rights," said Li Shaoping, vice president of the Supreme People's Court.

The correction of wrongful verdicts also has been accelerated in the past few years, Li said, adding that unjust verdicts in 23 high-profile cases were corrected from 2013 to 2015.

For example, Hugjilitu, a native of Inner Mongolia, who was executed in 1996 for rape and murder, was announced innocent at the end of 2014.

Li said the top court will continue to gain experience in correcting cases involving improper verdicts and avoid judicial mistakes by promoting case hearing systems and procedures.