SUMMER FOR BOOKS: Visitors browse books at the 2013 Shanghai Book Fair, which took place between August 14 and 20 (XINHUA)

Judicial Justice

China's first guideline to prevent unjust or wrongful judgments was issued by the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on August 13.

Judges, procurators and police officers will bear "life-long responsibility" for their roles in wrongful judgments, according to the document.

To prevent the extortion of confessions via torture, the guideline reiterates the articles in the Criminal Procedural Law, which was amended last year, saying all interrogations should be conducted in detention houses and recorded using audio or video equipment.

The guideline also advocates the principle of "innocent until proven guilty," as well as calling for changes to the current judicial appraisal system, which evaluates the performance of law enforcement personnel based on the number of criminal cases that have been solved and the number of suspects who have been detained or prosecuted.

Terrorists Sentenced

A court in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on August 12 sentenced two men to death and another three to prison for taking part in a violent attack on April 23.

The confrontation between terrorists and authorities in Xinjiang's Bachu County left 21 people dead, including 15 community workers and police officers, as well as six suspects, according to local authorities.

Musa Hesen was sentenced to death for murder, organizing and leading a terrorist group and illegally manufacturing explosives. Rehman Hupur was also sentenced to death for murder and participating in the terrorist group, according to a verdict handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Kashgar Prefecture.

Another three members of the terrorist group were given prison sentences ranging from nine years to life, according to the verdict.

All of the defendants confessed to their crimes in court.

Admin Fee Cut

China will lower administrative fees charged by 14 government departments from October 1.

The move is expected to help enterprises and individuals save about 200 million yuan ($32.66 million) every year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Finance said in a joint statement posted on the NDRC website on August 13.

The NDRC said that charges will be reduced for 20 government services. For example, the application fee for a trademark registration will be cut to 800 yuan ($131) from the previous 1,000 yuan ($163) while that for plant quarantine will be 20 percent lower.

The country will also lower government administrative fees for automobile mortgage registration, private visa re-application, notarization and the examination cost for patent agent qualification, the statement said.