China strengthens supervision on prisons, detention centers with circuit inspection

BEIJING -- China has made oversight by circuit procuratorial inspection teams part of its efforts in supervising prisons and detention centers, a senior procurator said Friday.

The practice has seen improvements in the identification and addressing of problems with the execution of criminal penalties, said Yang Chunlei, deputy procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, at a press conference.

Since the practice was introduced across the country in 2019, circuit inspection teams had completed more than 4,000 inspection visits to prisons and detention centers by the end of 2021, Yang said.

More than 26,000 problems found during the inspection tours had been solved, Yang added.

Procuratorial organs in China have been assigning inspection staff to prisons and detention centers to supervise the execution of criminal penalties.

The practice of oversight by circuit procuratorial inspection teams has become an effective complement to assigning inspection staff to prisons and detention centers to oversee law enforcement there, Yang noted.