Prosecutors enshrine rights and protections for whistle-blowers
Whistle-blowers are given sweeping new rights and protections under landmark regulation for those reporting wrongdoing and corruption
The top prosecutor's office has laid out a new regulation to protect whistle-blowers who report corruption and other crimes by civil servants.
The full text of the amended regulation was published yesterday on the website of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
It is the first time since the regulation was established in 1996 that the rights of whistle-blowers have been clarified. Currently, an amendment to the Administrative Supervision Law states that authorities shall maintain the confidentiality of those reporting the information, the investigation process and personal information about people who come forward.
The newly defined whistle-blowers' rights cover, among other things, the right to be informed of the results of inquiries resulting from the information - for the sake of protection and for collecting rewards.
It also requires prosecutors to conduct a risk assessment after a case is accepted, including a plan to protect the whistle-blower from acts of revenge.
"The People's Procuratorates encourage citizens to report crimes using their real names," the new regulation states.
Li Chengyan , director of the Research Centre for Government Integrity Building at Peking University, said the clarification of the rights meant more than protecting the safety of whistle-blowers.
"The protections will motivate and encourage all sorts of participation, and give ordinary people the power and opportunity to report," Li said.
The regulations require prosecutors to set up reporting centres, which will receive reports from informants and provide a place for offenders to voluntarily surrender themselves.
The centres will accept reports about crimes of corruption, dereliction of duty, and public officials taking advantage of illegal detention, engaging in revenge or extracting confessions under torture.
This is similar to how the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection accepts reports on party members, including high-ranking public officials, for possible crimes of corruption.
But the agency has not published regulations as detailed as the prosecutor's new directive.
As of 2012, 42 per cent of the cases investigated by the CCDI were reported by whistle-blowers, according to commission figures.
Earlier this year, a reporter from Xinhua reported potential graft issues relating to then chairman of China Resources, Song Ling , to the CCDI, and alerted the public. Song was later detained and removed from his post.
The regulation doesn't apply to reports made in the initial stage to the anti-graft agency.
But analysts said the new protections should cover most people as the majority of corruption cases, if found valid, are finally passed to prosecutors.
"As long as the reports to the CCDI are transferred to prosecutors, whistle-blowers who report to the CCDI will also enjoy the protection of this regulation from the procuratorate" Li said. "The protections offered by the procuratorates are lawful and ultimate protections."
