Legal papers in criminal cases must be published under new rule

Legal papers in a criminal prosecution are now required to be made public within 10 days after a decision is reached by a court, China's chief procuratorate said.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate launched a website for the publication of legal papers and information inquiries on Oct 1, in an effort to build transparency in China's judiciary.

The procuratorate said on Friday that a court decision on a prosecution, a protest or a criminal appeal review must be made public on the website.

Wang Jin, director of the file-management office of the procuratorate, said that national and business secrets will be protected.

"Personal privacy will also be respected. Information such as a person's address, telephone number and bank accounts are not allowed to be made public," he said.

As of October, more than 3,000 procuratorates at all levels throughout China have released over 15,000 legal documents on www.ajxxgk.jcy.gov.cn, a national website for publishing legal papers at prosecution stage.

"We will innovate our information publication system and are working on new channels such as WeChat and micro blogs to provide better information service," Wang added.