Moving on the rights track

Measures aimed at strengthening judicial safeguards for human rights is the beginning of deeper judicial reforms

To promote the rule of law and deepen judicial reforms, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a guideline in November that says the country will "strengthen judicial safeguards for human rights". It was the second significant step toward guaranteeing better human rights protection in nine years. In March 2004, the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, passed a constitutional amendment to include "respecting and guaranteeing human rights" as a new clause.

After issuing legislation for decades, China now has a well-developed legal system in place. The government, however, should include the measures to protect human rights in the Constitution and make institutional arrangements to implement them so that people can enjoy their political, economic and social rights.