Community correction committee, the human touch in justice
Compiled from: Ministry of Justice
Recently, the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial Government jointly issued a notice to establish the Guangdong Provincial Community Correction Committee. Its establishment aims to implement the "Community Correction Law of the People's Republic of China" and serve as a specific measure to advance the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity. It facilitates better coordination and cooperation among relevant units and departments, provides strong organizational support for the healthy development of community correction work in Guangdong, and is of great significance for comprehensively promoting the construction of "rule of law, safety, precision, and intelligence" in community correction in Guangdong.
What are the responsibilities of the Community Correction Committee?
The main responsibilities of the committee are to implement the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, the Provincial Committee, and the Provincial Government regarding community correction work; to coordinate and guide community correction work across the province; to study and resolve major issues in community correction work; to supervise and inspect the implementation of relevant laws, regulations, and policy measures for community correction; and to complete other tasks assigned by higher authorities.
What is the "Community Correction Law of the People's Republic of China"?
Before the formulation and implementation of the "Community Correction Law," the highest-level national regulation followed in community correction work was the "Implementation Measures for Community Correction." In the era without the "Community Correction Law," the "Implementation Measures for Community Correction" played an extremely important role in carrying out community correction work in accordance with the law.
After the "Community Correction Law" was formulated, to better implement this law, relevant authorities revised the "Implementation Measures for Community Correction," upgrading it to the "Implementation Measures for the Community Correction Law of the People's Republic of China." If the "Implementation Measures for the Community Correction Law of the People's Republic of China" is the present life, then the "Implementation Measures for Community Correction" is the past life, representing a continuous lineage. It can be said that the "Implementation Measures for the Community Correction Law" evolved from the "Implementation Measures for Community Correction."
The "Community Correction Law of the People's Republic of China" came into effect on July 1, 2020. Its purpose is to promote and regulate community correction work, ensure the correct execution of criminal judgments, criminal rulings, and decisions on temporary execution outside prison, improve the quality of education and correction, facilitate the smooth reintegration of community correction subjects into society, and prevent and reduce crime. It is a law formulated based on the Constitution.
The "Community Correction Law of the People's Republic of China" is divided into nine chapters with 63 articles: General Provisions, Institutions, Personnel and Responsibilities, Decisions and Acceptance, Supervision and Management, Education and Assistance, Termination and Release, Special Provisions for Juvenile Community Correction, Legal Liability, and Supplementary Provisions.
[1] The author's perspective
The purpose of community correction work is to target and eliminate factors that may lead community correction subjects to reoffend, help them become law-abiding citizens, and reintegrate into society, rather than placing them in opposition to society. Community correction work shall be carried out in accordance with the law, respecting and safeguarding human rights. Community correction subjects lawfully enjoy personal rights, property rights, and other rights that shall not be infringed upon, and they shall not be discriminated against in employment, education, or access to social security.
For this reason, all sectors of society should actively respond and participate together, not viewing community correction recipients through a biased lens, but rather respecting them, helping them, encouraging and enhancing their proactive initiative for self-correction and voluntary reintegration, and promoting and assisting them in returning to society as law-abiding citizens as soon as possible.
