China's Supreme People's Court calls for end to torture in new guidelines

The mainland's top court has issued guidelines that appear to signal its resolve to boost transparency and ensure fair use of judicial authority.

The Supreme People's Court said in the guidelines issued yesterday that the practice of using torture to extract evidence must be eliminated and cases must be decided by judges without interference by local governments.

"Extracting confessions through torture - such as the use of cold, hunger, drying, scorching, fatigue and other illegal methods to obtain confessions from accused - must be weeded out," the document said. It added that courts should work independently, without influence from police and prosecution bodies.

The guidelines also urge local courts to deal with death penalty cases with extra care and stipulate that only "experienced" judges should handle them.

"Evidence must be valued … More attention should be paid to examining and using material evidence," they said.

The guidelines follow a Communist Party pledge to carry out legal reforms - including reducing false charges and freeing courts from government interference - at its Central Committee's recent third plenum. Lu Guanglun , a judge with the top court, said the changes were introduced as some suspects were being presumed guilty, rather than innocent.