Draft law to protect graft suspects' rights set for NPC

Legislators decide to submit latest version for discussion next year

A high-profile draft of the supervision law－seen as a stronger step against corruption and toward protecting the rights of graft suspects－is to be submitted to the National People's Congress for discussion next year.

The NPC Standing Committee, the top legislature, made the decision to submit the draft at the closing ceremony of its bimonthly session on Wednesday.

The draft, which applies to public servants, was submitted to the committee for reading in June and again this month, "and the latest version is relatively mature", the top legislature said.

"The draft is to be delivered to NPC deputies for further study and reading, while efforts to solicit opinions are also ongoing. Our aim is to be better prepared for the review during the congress," it added.

The draft has received a lot of attention since it is designed to replace the practice of shuanggui, an intra-Party disciplinary practice in which Party members under investigation must cooperate with questioning at a set time and place.

The decision to replace shuanggui with detention was announced during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, with the deepening developments of the national supervision system.

Compared with the first draft, the latest version has specified procedures for detention as well as improved protection for graft suspects.

The draft narrows the application of "measures of technical investigation", which could include monitoring and surveillance, to suspected "major graft cases" instead of the previous "major cases of graft and dereliction of duty".

It also requires a timely lifting of such measures if there is no longer a necessity.

Under the draft, the family and employers of detainees should be informed within 24 hours, and frozen assets should be released within three days of being found irrelevant to the case. In addition, it added that searches of women should be done by female inspectors.

Ma Huaide, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, applauded the clause that diet, rest and medical care of detainees should be protected, which highlights human rights protection.

"I hope the clause can be more specific," he added.