Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China will grant more opportunities for legal petitions and for greater public participation in shaping the legislative process but judges must stay under control of the Communist Party. This was maintained by three official reports issued during an international meeting on the rule of law in China, which however stopped short of saying when these developments will take place. The meeting was organised yesterday in Beijing together with the European Union and the United Nations Development Program.

The legislative affairs office of the State Council admitted that “inefficiency and abuses” and unwarranted interference by state officials in the course of justice were widespread. To fight them, it was necessary first and foremost to “broaden public participation in lawmaking” and to encourage participation in the legal process, for example, by holding more public sittings and by making the enforcement of sentences more transparent.

Khalid Malik, UN Coordinator, said: "While China has enjoyed remarkable economic growth... social inequality, corruption, and inadequate law enforcement have created severe barriers for vulnerable groups.” Asian Development Bank general counsel Arthur Mitchell said greater judicial transparency was needed to implement the rule of law as more of the economy escaped from state control.

Zhang Shaogang, deputy director within the Ministry of Commerce, underlined the “great importance attached by the State to the rule of law in developing a harmonious society” not least through “close cooperation with the international community.”

But a report from the Supreme People's Court recommended that the control exercised by the Communist Party over the judicial system should not be reduced, even though the government promised “greater transparency”. The first principle of legal reform, added the report, should be to "adhere to leadership by the Communist Party".