Leaders to leave legal proceedings alone

When judicial independence is emphasized in China as a prerequisite for the carriage of justice in judicial practice, stopping government leaders at all levels from having their finger in the pie of legal proceedings has never been so important.

That explains why the general office of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China and that of the State Council, the cabinet, jointly released a set of regulations on Monday requiring leaders at all levels to keep their hands off legal proceedings.

The rules require that any leader's interference in a case in whatever form be kept on record for investigation. The regulations also stipulate that any judicial worker who fails to do this will also be investigated and penalized.