Clamor pushes but can’t override law

Source:Global Times Published: 2013-6-27 0:28:02

The case of Nie Shubin, who was executed in 1995 for raping and murdering a woman, has come back to the spotlight of public opinion. Years after Nie's death, a man named Wang Shujin, who was caught due to another case, admitted that he was the real murderer. But his testimony, according to the prosecutor, didn't fully match the details of the crime.

There has been another retrial at the court of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province, after five men were wrongly convicted. Retrying cases of injustice, false convictions, or even frame-ups has become common.

In the 1980s, many of the verdicts handed down during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) were overturned. After that, people hoped that the tide of injustice had turned.

Today, although the Chinese judiciary is making progress, some parts of the law and the judicial system are out of date. "Strike hard" campaigns, which use severe and quick punishments against illegal activities, made these wrong convictions possible. China's construction of its legal system is improving but problems still remain.

Nie's retrial has been going on for eight years. The court has not delivered a quick verdict based on a piece of new testimony. This prudent attitude, which puts equal emphasis on both testimony and tangible evidence, is in line with the construction of a better Chinese legal system.

Public opinion wants to see Nie declared innocent. But this appeal is not a response to the spirit of law. Public opinion, which has made many assumptions such that the court and the prosecutor are trying to cover their fault by denying to overrule its former verdict, has a certain logic, but the process of the retrial must comply with the law and avoids being coerced by emotions or hopes. No matter how strong the public opinion is, the court needs to keep a distance from it, trying to maintain its independence.

The law is still not in an authoritative position in China. The introduction of the rule of law has been interfered with by many other factors, such as administrative power and personal connections. These factors have damaged the authority of the law and led to wrongful convictions.

But China's construction of legal system is striding forward, and integrating the concept of human rights. This isn't just something the public wants, but a basic state policy. People are angrier than ever about wrongful convictions, which puts new pressures on law-makers and enforcers. Eventually this will lead to justice.

And for some people "judicial independence" is just a useful slogan, because when they get involved in lawsuits, their first resort is trying to direct the case to develop as expected by using their own "resources." Public opinion is also doing the same, putting itself over the law.

Chinese judicial independence has a long way to go. Nie's retrial, we hope, will stand the test of history, and become a real victory for the law.



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