NCJ Number
201488
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 28 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2003 Pages: 6-7
Date Published
July 2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article recounts recent reform measures taken in China’s correctional system.
Abstract
The author reports on changes in China’s correctional system based on data that has been gleaned from materials and observations, as well as from a presentation by Liang Gang, deputy director-general of the China Prison Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, delivered at the 2002 International Corrections and Prisons Association conference. The article begins by providing a historical background of the political climate in China and its justice system. Next, the author reports that, according to Gang, China’s prison system is in the midst of a reform in which specific and defined national prison regulations and a uniform legal code are replacing China’s traditional regional governance of the prisons. Some of the objectives of the reform process include the establishment of a comprehensive legal framework and developing the professionalism of prison system staff at all levels. The processing of juvenile offenders in China is also discussed; comment made by Gang at the conference led to the conclusion that there is an emphasis on community responses to juvenile offenses, rather than on incarceration. In conclusion, Gang left the impression that in the future, China’s prison affairs will be open to public scrutiny.