RELEASED: Tang Hui, who was sentenced to re-education through labor in Hunan Province, is released on August 10, 2012, following public outcry on her behalf (XINHUA)

Relevant government departments are making plans on reforming the re-education through labor system, and are expected to release the plans by the end of this year, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang when meeting the press on March 17 after the closing of this year's full session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

A few days earlier, at a press conference held on March 9, Lang Sheng, Deputy Director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, said that the re-education through labor system should be reformed to keep up with the times and it would not take long for people to see progress.

First introduced in the 1950s, the re-education through labor system allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.

The system is problematic because there is no supervisory mechanism to check the power of police authorities to impose re-education measures, and the system denies citizens of their rights to defense and appeal, said Di Yingqi, an NPC deputy and Dean of the Law School at Henan University of Economics and Law.

Calls for change

Re-education through labor was a measure adopted to maintain social order while the country's legal system was not well-established, and it played its role in that situation, according to Chen Jiping, a member of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisory body.

The measure has been abused in some circumstances; for instance, some petitioners and critics of government have been sent to receive re-education through labor.

Chen believes the time is right to abolish the re-education through labor system, citing two reasons: First, the legal system is relatively mature, for instance, offenders such as drug users can now be punished under the Anti-Drug Law; second, in recent years, community corrections have grown significantly and yielded good results in rehabilitating juvenile offenders or those whose offenses are not serious enough to be prosecuted according to the Criminal Law.

According to Chen, misdemeanors can be punished according to the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security.

In response to concerns that abrogation of re-education through labor might mean some offenders will not be punished for their misconduct, Di said such worries are unwarranted because existing laws are enough to punish various offenses.

Di said even the Criminal Law has both light and heavy penalties for minor crimes, including public surveillance and detention, a punishment under which a person's freedom can be deprived for a minimum of six months or a maximum of three years. He said that if deprivation of personal freedom is too serious for some minor crimes, public surveillance can serve as an alternative.

"The drawbacks of the re-education through labor system become more and more apparent as society progresses. Even if the system cannot be abolished immediately, it should at least be reformed," said Deng Hui, an NPC deputy and Dean of the Law School of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics.

Deng suggested that the authority to impose re-education through labor should be transferred from law enforcement agencies to judicial organs and detention periods should be shortened.

A controversial system

According to regulations issued by the Ministry of Public Security, offenses punishable by re-education through labor include juvenile delinquency, prostitution, theft, fraud, gambling and dissemination of pornography.

However, the constitutionality of re-education through labor has been contested over the years.

Ma Huaide, Vice President of China University of Political Science and Law, told Outlook Oriental Weekly that any coercive measure or punishment that deprives people of their freedom should be authorized by the NPC, rather than the State Council, China's cabinet, or other government departments.