People's Republic of China: Law reform and human rights

The attached document examines the major legal changes introduced in China last year which are particularly relevant to human rights protection and practice, including amendments to the country's Criminal Procedure Law and two new laws adopted in 1996, the Admistrative Punishment Law and the Martial Law of the PRC. The revision of the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), the basic law governing the criminal justice system, was the most significant legal development in China since this law was adopted in 1979. The 1996 amendments, which came into force in January 1997, improve its provisions, increasing the legal rights of people suspected of or charged with crimes. However, these changes still leave the CPL far behind international human rights standards and are insufficient to protect detainees against arbitrary detention, unfair trial and torture. While Amnesty International welcomes the revision of this law as a positive step, it is concerned that its revised provisions can still cause human rights violations. Amnesty International is also concerned that many other laws in China are the basis of widespread human rights violations, including legislation which permits 're-education through labour', a form of administrative detention imposed without charge or trial, and legislation on 'state secrets' and state security, which has been increasingly used to arbitrarily imprison people for the peaceful exercise of fundamental human rights. The Martial Law adopted last year is the latest in a series of laws which restrict fundamental rights and freedoms, going beyond the restrictions envisaged under international standards during a state of emergency. Despite some positive legal changes, human rights violations continue to be widespread in China, caused both by legislation and by established practices in the justice system. Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese authorities to broaden the legal reforms and to review all legislation which cause or may lead to human rights violations, as well as the constitutional and institutional framework in which the law is implemented, so as to introduce effective safeguards and mechanisms to prevent and redress human rights violations.