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Saturday 17 October 2009
New anti-graft laws, including on bribery, get judicial blessing
Beijing has stepped up its war on corruption by issuing a judicial interpretation confirming nine criminal charges introduced early this year, including “accepting bribes for exercising influence”.
New anti-graft laws, including on bribery, get judicial blessing
Ng Tze-wei 17 October 2009
Beijing has stepped up its war on corruption by issuing a judicial interpretation confirming nine criminal charges introduced early this year, including “accepting bribes for exercising influence”.
That new charge means bribery cases can now target the families of government officials and “anyone who enjoys a close relationship with the government official”.
Academics say it includes the broadest description ever used in an anti-corruption charge and would ensnare not only people who enjoy “special relationships” with government officials, such as mistresses - made possible by a judicial interpretation in July 2007 - but aides and close friends.
Anyone who exercises his or her influence over a government official to accept bribes can now be thrown into jail for seven years or more in severe cases.
However, although the net has been widened to catch more fish, one fear is that it might provide an excuse for corrupt officials to claim they knew nothing of bribes accepted by those around them.
Zhao Bingzhi, a professor at the China Criminal Law Society, told the Legal Daily in April that the charge undoubtedly strengthened the anti-corruption arsenal, since previously a third party could only be charged as an accomplice of a government official convicted for corruption. Now a third party could be charged with accepting bribes to exercise influence even if the official were not found guilty.
He warned, however, that “the departments must first investigate thoroughly whether there was conspiracy between the government official and the person with a close relationship to the government official ... and not simply push the guilt on the [latter]”.
Zhao said that if the government official had not personally benefited from the bribery but knew of it and turned a blind eye, he should be treated as an accomplice under the new charge.
Ren Jianming, director of Tsinghua University’s clean governance programme, said that as anti-corruption measures became stronger, offenders would devise ever more complex means of accepting bribes without being traced.
“Hence the best way to stem corruption is still to step up prevention,” Ren said.
Corruption remains one of the most unsettling forces on the mainland, with bribes taking on innovative forms, from sponsoring the overseas education of a government official’s child to sharing mistresses.
Chen Tonghai, former chairman of oil giant Sinopec, was the most recent top official to be convicted. In July he was given a death sentence, suspended for two years, for taking ¥195.7 million (HK$222 million) in bribes. Chen carried a rank equivalent to that of a minister.
The other new charges cover insider trading, pyramid sales, illegal sales, the dissemination and appropriation of personal information, organising minors in activities that threaten public security, hacking, and the illegal use of military logos.
1 comment:
New anti-graft laws, including on bribery, get judicial blessing
Ng Tze-wei
17 October 2009
Beijing has stepped up its war on corruption by issuing a judicial interpretation confirming nine criminal charges introduced early this year, including “accepting bribes for exercising influence”.
That new charge means bribery cases can now target the families of government officials and “anyone who enjoys a close relationship with the government official”.
Academics say it includes the broadest description ever used in an anti-corruption charge and would ensnare not only people who enjoy “special relationships” with government officials, such as mistresses - made possible by a judicial interpretation in July 2007 - but aides and close friends.
Anyone who exercises his or her influence over a government official to accept bribes can now be thrown into jail for seven years or more in severe cases.
However, although the net has been widened to catch more fish, one fear is that it might provide an excuse for corrupt officials to claim they knew nothing of bribes accepted by those around them.
Zhao Bingzhi, a professor at the China Criminal Law Society, told the Legal Daily in April that the charge undoubtedly strengthened the anti-corruption arsenal, since previously a third party could only be charged as an accomplice of a government official convicted for corruption. Now a third party could be charged with accepting bribes to exercise influence even if the official were not found guilty.
He warned, however, that “the departments must first investigate thoroughly whether there was conspiracy between the government official and the person with a close relationship to the government official ... and not simply push the guilt on the [latter]”.
Zhao said that if the government official had not personally benefited from the bribery but knew of it and turned a blind eye, he should be treated as an accomplice under the new charge.
Ren Jianming, director of Tsinghua University’s clean governance programme, said that as anti-corruption measures became stronger, offenders would devise ever more complex means of accepting bribes without being traced.
“Hence the best way to stem corruption is still to step up prevention,” Ren said.
Corruption remains one of the most unsettling forces on the mainland, with bribes taking on innovative forms, from sponsoring the overseas education of a government official’s child to sharing mistresses.
Chen Tonghai, former chairman of oil giant Sinopec, was the most recent top official to be convicted. In July he was given a death sentence, suspended for two years, for taking ¥195.7 million (HK$222 million) in bribes. Chen carried a rank equivalent to that of a minister.
The other new charges cover insider trading, pyramid sales, illegal sales, the dissemination and appropriation of personal information, organising minors in activities that threaten public security, hacking, and the illegal use of military logos.
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