Chinese judicial departments are piloting a State compensation system in
more than 10 provinces to help crime victims and their dependants in a bid to
extend it across the country.
Supreme People's Court (SPC) sources have said courts in 10 provinces such as
Shandong, Zhejiang, Hubei and Guangdong sanctioned 7.8 million yuan (1 million
U.S. dollars) in relief funds to 378 victims and their families last year. More
courts are likely to join the pilot project this year.
One of the beneficiaries is 67-year-old Li Zejie of East China's Shandong
Province. Li, whose only son was stabbed to death last April, was supposed to
get 160,000 yuan (21,225 dollars) as compensation from the murderer.
But since the convict is poor and couldn't pay even a penny of the
compensation, the government gave him 20,000 yuan as relief payment.
Shen Liang, vice-director of SPC's criminal case trial division, said: "Since
China's overall comprehensive capacity is constantly growing, the time is ripe
to demonstrate the feasibility to compensate victims nationwide with government
input."
But owing to the unbalanced development in different regions and the
complicated nature of the work, it has to be carried out gradually, with
"funding being the key".
Shen welcomed the practice in some cities where the local treasury provides
courts' compensation funds as special expenditure. Earlier, they came from fines
and confiscated property.
Part of the funds comes from social charity.
Shen said priority should be given to victims' dependants living in
"dangerous and difficult conditions" and to victims who are severely disabled.
The measure, considered a big step forward in the country's legal system, has
been emphasized on the work agenda both of the highest court and the Supreme
People's Procuratorate this year.
"Without such a system to help the victims, the courtrooms will be nothing
more than an arena for legal professionals to exercise their litigation skills",
Chief Justice Xiao Yang said earlier.
Under the Criminal Procedure Law, victims who suffer material losses in a
crime have the right to seek compensation by filing incidental civil action case
alongside the criminal proceedings.
Public Security Research magazine statistics show that since 2001 nearly 2
million crime victims every year don't get their due.
Chen Guangzhong, a professor in criminal procedure law in China University of
Politics and Law, said: "Law has brought justice, but 'victory' in fact brings
nothing to victims, except the endless wait for payment."