China’s top court urges judicial independence, end to interference

China must rid its courts of corruption and stop officials interfering in decisions, a paper on reforms by the top court said on Tuesday, referring to a judicial system that answers to the Communist Party and almost never sides with defendants.

The paper, published on an official website managed by the Supreme People’s Court, comes ahead of the third plenum of the ruling Communist Party’s 205-member Central Committee next month, a key meeting of party elite where economic and social reforms are expected to emerge.

It also coincides with a report by Xinhua state news agency that the party had agreed to set up an anti-corruption mechanism that will oversee top military officers to ensure they are doing their jobs properly.

“Resolutely implement the courts’ independent exercise of judicial authority based on constitutional principles, and resolutely resist all forms of local and departmental protectionism,” the judicial document said in a long list of recommendations.

“Eliminate power, money, allegiances, relationships and other extrajudicial disturbances.”

Local protectionism refers to municipal officials exercising political influence over verdicts – a pervasive problem in China, where rule of law and independence of the judiciary are given lip service only and courts must answer to party authorities.

The document also called for making trials more efficient, greater protections for lawyers, and “open justice” through microblogs and other new technologies.

Guilty verdicts are usually a foregone conclusion in China. The trial of ousted politician Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, accused of murdering a British businessman in China’s highest-profile political saga in decades, lasted just a day before she was found guilty and given a suspended death sentence.