Judicial authorities have been told to re-examine potentially wrongful property rights cases and avoid misconduct to protect the legitimate rights of property owners.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate has urged provincial prosecuting authorities to conduct an overall review of property rights-related cases, as well as to make efforts to avoid wrongful prosecutions.
Each provincial procuratorate should select and look into three to five typical cases that may have involved judicial misconduct, Yin Yijun, director of the top procuratorate's criminal appeal department, said on Jan 30 at a news conference.
"How these cases are being handled should be reported to the top procuratorate in a timely manner and with written statements," he said, adding that prosecutors need to analyze why the wrongful prosecutions occurred, and prevent economic disputes from being punished as economic crimes.
A typical case occurred in Henan province in which the provincial procuratorate protested a ruling made by a local court in Xinxiang city, resulting in a withdraw of the verdict.
In the case, an agricultural machinery company owner was sentenced to 13 years in prison for contract fraud in 2002. Due to his repeated appeals, the provincial prosecutors reviewed the case and found the judgment was based on insufficient evidence and indeterminate facts. In March, the court overturned the original ruling.
It's a typical case wherein prosecutors play a supervisory role to distinguish economic disputes from economic crimes, according to the top procuratorate.
Apart from prosecutors, courts across the country have also been required to review appeals of individuals or entities claiming property rights abuses, according to the Supreme People's Court.
"We've received many such appeals, but whether they should be retried depends on careful review that will take some time due to stricter procedures," said Yan Maokun, director of the top court's research office.
"In addition, some cases occurred a long time ago and are complicated, which also requires time for review," he said.
In December, the SPC announced the retrial of three major property rights-related cases. One of the high-profile criminal cases involves Gu Chujun, former chairman of Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holdings Co, an electrical appliances maker.
The SPP said on Monday it had set up teams to look into Gu's case and promised to provide objective opinions based on facts.
Gu was arrested in 2005. A final court ruling by the Guangdong High People's Court in 2009 sentenced him to 10 years in prison for falsifying and withholding information and embezzlement. He was also fined 6.8 million yuan ($1.07 million).
The SPC said that it reviewed Gu's case and believed he was eligible for a retrial according to China's criminal procedure law.
