Petitioners are now prohibited from being put in confinement, following new rules for improved petition management.
Petitions, or "calls and letters" are a way for the public to air grievances, such as injustices in education, healthcare or environmental protection. Petitioners are entitled to take their complaint to a higher level if they do not receive an adequate response locally. However, it is widely accepted that China's petitioning system is broken and rife with corruption. Officials often prevent petitioners from taking up their case with bosses, sometimes detaining them in so called "black jails" which government bodies fail to acknowledge.
In a bid to clean up the system, legislation pass this week "stresses that illegal or indirect confinement of petitioners is strictly prohibited, and leading officials of related law enforcement organs are responsible for receiving petitioners and reading their letters". The circular "urges the setting up of a system to dissolve conflicts and disputes by lawful means".
Under the new rules, disputes should be settled by law enforcement departments rather than government agencies in a move to increase efficiency. The changes follow last month's new regulation under the State Bureau for Letters and Calls highlighting protection of petitioners' rights, under which "any malpractice that constrains the public from legal petitioning will be rectified and prohibited" according to Xinhua.
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