Public Procurators Law of the People's Republic of China

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER II FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES

CHAPTER III OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS

CHAPTER IV QUALIFICATIONS FOR A PUBLIC PROCURATOR

CHAPTER V APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL

CHAPTER VI POSTS TO BE AVOIDED

CHAPTER VII GRADES OF PUBLIC PROCURATORS

CHAPTER VIII APPRAISAL

CHAPTER IX TRAINING

CHAPTER X AWARDS

CHAPTER XI PUNISHMENT

CHAPTER XII SALARY, INSURANCE AND WELFARE

CHAPTER XIII RESIGNATION AND DISMISSAL

CHAPTER XIV RETIREMENT

CHAPTER XV PETITION AND COMPLAINT

CHAPTER XVI COMMISSION FOR EXAMINATION AND ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC PROCURATORS

CHAPTER XVII SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution to ensure that the People's Procuratorates exercise legal supervision and independently exercise procuratorial authority according to law and that public procurators perform their functions and duties according to law, to enhance the quality of public procurators, and to realize the scientific administration of public procurators.

Article 2 Public procurators are the procuratorial personnel who exercise the procuratorial authority of the State according to law, including chief procurators, deputy chief procurators (the Procurator- General, Deputy Procurators-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate), members of procuratorial committees, procurators and assistant procurators of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, local people's procuratorates at various levels and special people's procuratorates such as military procuratorates.

Article 3 Public procurators must faithfully implement the Constitution and laws, and serve the people whole-heartedly.

Article 4 Public procurators, when performing their functions and duties according to law, shall be protected by law.

Article 5 The Supreme People's Procuratorate shall exercise leadership over the work of the local People's Procuratorates at various levels and of the special People's Procuratorates. The People's Procuratorates at higher levels shall exercise leadership over the work of the People's Procuratorates at lower levels.

Article 6 The functions and duties of public procurators are as follows:

(1) to supervise the enforcement of laws according to law;

(2) to make public prosecution on behalf of the State;

(3) to investigate criminal cases directly accepted by the People's Procuratorates as provided by law; and

(4) other functions and duties as provided by law.

Article 7 Chief procurators, deputy chief procurators and members of procuratorial committees shall, in addition to the procuratorial functions and duties, perform other functions and duties commensurate with their posts.

CHAPTER III OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS

Article 8 Public procurators shall perform the following obligations:

(1) to strictly observe the Constitution and law;

(2) to take facts as the basis and law as the criterion, to enforce laws impartially and not to bend law for personal gain when exercising their functions and duties;

(3) to safeguard the State interests and public interests, and to safeguard the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations;

(4) to be honest and clean, faithful in the discharge of their duties, and to abide by

discipline;

(5) to keep State secrets and the secrets of procuratorial work; and

(6) to accept legal supervision and supervision by the masses.

Article 9 Public procurators shall enjoy the following rights:

(1) to have the power and working conditions which are essential to the performance of functions and duties of public procurators;

(2) to brook no interference from administrative organs, public organizations or individuals in performing procuratorial functions and duties according to law;

(3) to be not removed from the post or demoted or dismissed, and to be not given a sanction, without statutory basis and without going through statutory procedures;

(4) to be remunerated for work, to enjoy insurance and welfare benefits;

(5) to enjoy safety of the person, property and residence as ensured by law;

(6) to receive training;

(7) to lodge petitions or complaints; and

(8) to resign their posts.

CHAPTER IV QUALIFICATIONS FOR A PUBLIC PROCURATOR

Article 10 A public procurator must possess the following qualifications:

(1) to be of the nationality of the People's Republic of China;

(2) to have reached the age of 23;

(3) to endorse the Constitution of the People's Republic of China;

(4) to have fine political and professional quality and to be good in conduct;

(5) to be in good health; and

(6) to have worked for at least two years in the case of graduates from law specialties of colleges or universities or from non-law specialties of colleges or universities but possessing the professional knowledge of law; or to have worked for at least one year in the case of Bachelors of Law; those who have Master's Degree of Law or Doctor's Degree of Law may be not subject to the above-mentioned requirements for the number of years set for work.

The public procurators who do not possess the qualifications as provided by sub-paragraph (6) of the preceding paragraph prior to the implementation of this Law shall receive training so as to meet the qualifications as provided by this Law within a prescribed time limit. The specific measures shall be laid down by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Article 11 The following persons shall not hold the post of a public procurator:

(1) to have been subjected to criminal punishment for commission of a crime; or

(2) to have been discharged from public employment.

CHAPTER V APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL

Article 12 A public procurator shall be appointed or removed from the post in accordance with the limit of authority for, and procedures of, appointment or removal as prescribed by the Constitution and laws.

The Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall be elected or removed by the National People's Congress. The Deputy Procurators-General, members of the procuratorial committee and the procurators shall be appointed or removed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress upon the recommendation of the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The chief procurators of the local People's Procuratorates at various levels shall be elected or removed by the local people's congresses at the corresponding levels. The deputy chief procurators, members of the procuratorial committees and procurators shall be appointed or removed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding levels upon the recommendation of the chief procurators of those procuratorates.

The appointment or removal of the chief procurators of the local People's Procuratorates at the various levels must be reported to the chief procurators of the People's Procuratorates at the next higher level, who shall submit the matter to the standing committee of the people's congress at that level for approval.

The chief procurators, deputy chief procurators, members of the procuratorial committees and procurators of the branches of the People's Procuratorates set up in prefectures in the provinces or autonomous regions or set up in the municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be appointed or removed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding levels upon the recommendation of the chief procurators of the People's Procuratorates of the provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government.

The assistant procurators of the People's Procuratorates shall be appointed or removed by the chief procurators of the procuratorates where they work.

The measures for the appointment or removal of the chief procurators, deputy chief procurators, members of the procuratorial committees and procurators of such special People's Procuratorates as the military procuratorates shall be formulated by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress separately.

Article 13 Persons to be appointed procurators or assistant procurators for the first time shall be selected through public examination and strict appraisal, from among the best qualified for the post, and in accordance with the standards of having both ability and political integrity.

Persons to be appointed chief procurators, deputy chief procurators or members of procuratorial committees shall be selected from among those who are experienced in practical work.

Article 14 If a public procurator is found to be in any of the following circumstances, a report shall be submitted according to law concerning the removal of his or her post:

(1) having forfeited the nationality of the People's Republic of China;

(2) having been transferred out of this procuratorate;

(3) having no need to maintain his or her original post after a change of post;

(4) being determined to be incompetent in the post through appraisal;

(5) being unable to perform the functions and duties of a public procurator for a long period of time due to poor health;

(6) having retired from the post;

(7) having resigned the post, or having been dismissed;

(8) being disqualified from continuing to hold the post because of violation of discipline, law or commission of a crime; or

(9) other circumstances that call for removal of the post.

Article 15 Where an elected chief procurator of a People's Procuratorate does not possess the qualifications as provided by this Law, or a chief procurator of a People's Procuratorate is elected in violation of the statutory procedures, the chief procurator of a People's Procuratorate at the next higher level shall have the power to apply to the standing committee of the people's congress at that level for disapproval.

Article 16 The Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the chief procurators of the People's Procuratorates of the provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government may make proposals to the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding levels to remove or replace a chief procurator, a deputy chief procurator or a member of the procuratorial committee of a People's Procuratorate at lower levels.

Article 17 No public procurators may concurrently be members of the standing committees of the people's congresses, or hold posts in administrative organs, judicial organs, enterprises or institutions, or serve as lawyers.

Article 18 Public procurators who are connected by husband-wife relation-ship, or who are directly related by blood, collaterally related within three generations, or closely related by marriage may not, at the same time, hold the following posts:

(1) the chief procurator, deputy chief procurators, or members of the procura-torial committee in the same People's Procuratorate;

(2) the chief procurator, deputy chief procurators, procurators or assistant

procurators in the same People's Procuratorate;

(3) the procurators or assistant procurators in the same division; or

(4) chief procurators or deputy chief procurators of the People's Procuratorates at the levels next to each other.

CHAPTER VII GRADES OF PUBLIC PROCURATORS

Article 19 Public procurators are divided into twelve grades.

The Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate is Procurator-in-Chief. Public procurators from the second grade to the twelfth grade are composed of principal public procurators, senior public procurators and public procurators.

Article 20 Grades of public procurators shall be determined on the basis of their posts, their actual working ability and political integrity, their professional competence, their achievements in procuratorial work and their seniority.

Article 21 The grades of public procurators shall be established and the measures for their evaluation and promotion shall be formulated separately by the State.

Article 22 Appraisal of public procurators shall be conducted by the People's Procuratorates the public procurators belong to.

Article 23 The appraisal of public procurators shall be carried out objectively and impartially, through the combined efforts of the leaders and masses, and routinely and annually.

Article 24 The appraisal of public procurators shall include their achieve-ments in procuratorial work, their ideological level and moral characters, their competence in procuratorial work and their mastery of law theories, their attitude in and style of work. However, emphasis shall be laid on achievements in procuratorial work.

Article 25 The results of the annual appraisal shall fall into three grades: excellent, competent and incompetent.

The result of appraisal shall be taken as the basis for award, punishment, training, dismissal of a public procurator, and for readjustment of his or her grade and salary.

Article 26 A public procurator shall be informed of the result of appraisal in written form. If the public procurator disagrees with the result, he or she may apply for reconsideration.

Article 27 Theoretical and professional training for public procurators shall be carried out in a planned way.

The principles of integrating theory with practice, giving lectures in light of the needs and emphasizing practical results shall be applied in the training of public procurators.

Article 28 The public procurator colleges and universities of the State, and other institutions for training public procurators shall, in accordance with the relevant regulations, undertake the task of training public procurators.

Article 29 The results of the studies of public procurators and the appraisals made during their training shall be taken as one of the bases for their appointment and promotion.

Article 30 Public procurators who have made significant achievements and contributions in procuratorial work, or performed other outstanding deeds shall be rewarded.

The principle of combining moral encouragement with material reward shall be applied in rewarding public procurators.

Article 31 Public procurators who have any of the following achievements to their credit shall be rewarded:

(1) having achieved notable successes in enforcing laws impartially in procura-torial work;

(2) having made proposals for procuratorial work or proposals for the reform of procuratorial work that have been adopted and produced remarkable results;

(3) having performed outstanding deeds in safeguarding the interests of the State, the collective and the people against heavy losses;

(4) having performed outstanding deeds by bravely fighting against illegal or criminal acts;

(5) having scored outstanding achievements in protecting State secrets and secrets of procuratorial work; or

(6) having performed other meritorious deeds.

Article 32 The awards include: Citation for Meritorious Deeds, Merit Citation Class III, Merit Citation Class II, Merit Citation Class I, and a title of honour.

The awards shall be authorized and procedures gone through in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Article 33 No public procurators may commit any of the following acts:

(1) to spread statements damaging the prestige of the State; to join illegal organizations; to take part in such activities as assembly, procession and demonstration against the State; and to participate in strikes;

(2) to embezzle money or receive bribes;

(3) to bend law for personal gain;

(4) to extort confessions by torture;

(5) to conceal or falsify evidence;

(6) to divulge State secrets or secrets of procuratorial work;

(7) to abuse functions and powers; and to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons or other organizations;

(8) to neglect his or her duty so as to wrongly judge a case or to cause heavy losses to the party concerned;

(9) to intentionally delay the handling of a case so as to affect the work adversely;

(10) to take advantage of the functions and powers to seek gain for himself or herself or other people;

(11) to engage in profit-making activities;

(12) to meet the party concerned or his or her agent without authorization and attend dinners or accept presents given by the party concerned or his or her agent; or

(13) to commit other acts in violation of law or discipline.

Article 34 A public procurator who has committed any of the acts listed in Article 33 of this Law shall be given sanctions; if the case constitutes a crime, he or she shall be investigated for criminal responsibility.

Article 35 The sanctions include: a disciplinary warning, a demerit recorded, a grave demerit recorded, demotion, dismissal from the post and discharge from public employment.

The salary of a public procurator who has been dismissed from the post shall at the same time be reduced and his or her grade be demoted.

Article 36 A sanction shall be authorized and procedures gone through in accordance with the relevant regulations.

CHAPTER XII SALARY, INSURANCE AND WELFARE

Article 37 The salary system and scales for public procurators shall, in light of the characteristics of procuratorial work, be formulated by the State.

Article 38 The system under which the salaries of public procurators are increased regularly shall be practised. The salary of a public procurator who has been confirmed through appraisal as being excellent or competent may be raised in accordance with regulations; the salary of a public procurator who has made special contributions may be raised in advance in accordance with regulations.

Article 39 Public procurators shall enjoy procuratorial allowances, regional allowances and other allowances and insurance and welfare benefits as prescribed by the State.

CHAPTER XIII RESIGNATION AND DISMISSAL

Article 40 If a public procurator requests resignation, he or she shall present an application in written form before he or she shall be removed in accordance with the procedures as provided by law.

Article 41 A public procurator may be dismissed if he or she is found to be in any of the following circumstances:

(1) to be confirmed by annual appraisal as being incompetent for two successive years;

(2) to be unqualified for the present post and decline to accept other assignments;

(3) to refuse to accept reasonable transfer, which is necessitated by restructuring of the procuratorial organ or reduction of the size of the staff;

(4) to have stayed away from work without leave or to have overstayed his or her leave without good reason for fifteen days or more in succession or for thirty days or more in a year aggregated; or

(5) to fail to perform a public procurator's duty, and make no rectification after criticism.

Article 42 A public procurator who is dismissed shall be removed from the post in accordance with the procedures as provided by law.

Article 43 The retirement system regarding public procurators shall, in light of the characteristics of procuratorial work, be formulated separately by the State.

Article 44 After retirement public procurators shall enjoy the insurance of old age pension and other benefits as prescribed by the State.

CHAPTER XV PETITION AND COMPLAINT

Article 45 If a public procurator disagrees with the sanction given to him or her by a People's Procuratorate, he or she may, within thirty days from the date of receiving the decision on the sanction, apply for reconsideration to the organ which handled the case and shall have the right to appeal to the organ at a level higher than the organ which handled the case.

The organ that receives the appeal must make a decision on it in accordance with regulations.

Execution of a decision on a sanction given to a public procurator shall not be suspended during the period of reconsideration or petition.

Article 46 If a State organ or any of its functionaries commits an act infringing upon the rights of a public procurator as provided by Article 9 of this Law, the public procurator shall have the right to make a complaint.

If an administrative organ, a public organization or an individual interferes in a public procurator's performance of the procuratorial functions and duties according to law, that organ, organization or individual shall be investigated for responsibility according to law.

Article 47 The petition or complaint made by a public procurator shall be true to facts. If a public procurator makes up a story or lodges a false accusation against an innocent person, he or she shall be investigated for responsibility according to law.

Article 48 Where a sanction given to a public procurator is wrong, it shall be put right without delay; if it has damaged the public procurator's reputation, the reputation shall be rehabilitated, the ill effects shall be eliminated and an apology shall be made; if it has caused financial losses to the public procurator, compensations shall be made. The persons who are directly responsible for retaliation shall be investigated for responsibility according to law.

CHAPTER XVI COMMISSION FOR EXAMINATION AND ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC

Article 49 A People's Procuratorate shall establish a commission for examination and assessment of public procurators.

The functions and duties of a commission for examination and assessment of public procurators are to guide the training, examination, appraisal and assessment of public procurators. Specific measures therefor shall be formulated separately.

The commission for examination and assessment of public procurators of the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 13 of this Law, organize unified national examination for procurators and assistant procurators to be appointed as such for the first time.

Article 50 The number of persons on a commission for examination and assessment of public procurators shall be five to nine.

The chairman of a commission for examination and assessment of public procurators shall be assumed by the chief procurator of the procuratorate it belongs to.

CHAPTER XVII SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 51 Measures for the administration of the clerks of the People's Procuratorates shall be formulated by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The administrative judicial personnel of the People's Procuratorates shall be administered in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State.

Article 52 This Law shall come into force as of July 1, 1995.