Revised anti-graft law stresses supervisory procedures

Chinese supervisory procedures will be further optimized in line with a newly amended law, with more time to investigate complicated cases and stronger measures to protect human rights.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, adopted a decision on amending the Supervision Law while closing its latest session on Wednesday. The revised law, the country's primary legislation for combating corruption, will take effect on June 1.

"Amending the law is not only to deal with new situations to fight against corruption with 'zero tolerance', but also to make the supervisory procedures more regulated," said the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission.

The current law stipulates that people should receive supervisory investigation, with a three-month detention limit, if found to have suspected corrupt actions. The detention can be doubled in "special circumstances", but the extension period should not exceed three months.

To address the problem of time constraints in handling major or complicated cases in practice, the amended law has added the provision that for suspects in severe circumstances, such as those who may be sentenced to 10 or more years in prison, if the supervisory departments are unable to complete the investigation even after extending the detention period, an additional extension of two months will be permitted. The further extension should be approved by the National Commission of Supervision.

While improving the quality of supervision by leaving sufficient time for investigators, the amended law has also emphasized the importance of respecting and protecting human rights, with special content to safeguard the property and operation rights of businesses.

The NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission added that making these revisions and improvements aims to further strengthen the protection of legitimate rights and interests of market entities during supervisory procedures so that the disruption of normal business activities can be prevented or minimized.