Impartial upholding of the law should be judiciary's new normal

MORE THAN 20 YEARS AFTER NIE SHUBIN, THEN A YOUNG LAD, was sentenced to death and executed after being convicted of rape and murder, and 10 years after another suspect confessed he was the actual murderer, Nie's lawyers finally got approval to read all the documents related to his case, a move widely believed to signal there will be a retrial. Comments:

Lawyers had long applied to see the documents, yet their requests were continually rejected, except once in 2013. Even then, the prosecutors only allowed the lawyers to see 26 pages out of 137, and these were selected to prove Nie's guilt. It is the inferiority bestowed upon the defendants and their lawyers that causes innocent people to be wronged and this problem must be solved in order to introduce rule of law.

Beijing News, March 17