Ministry of Justice demands stronger law enforcement supervision

The Ministry of Justice recently issued a guideline which requires judicial administrative organs at all levels to maximize their law enforcement supervision so as to provide strong legal support for the COVID-19 epidemic control and work resumption.

The guideline instructed judicial administrative organs to make epidemic control and work and production resumption top priorities and ensure that law enforcement organs do their work in a strict, standardized, impartial and civilized manner.

For illegal activities that disturb market and social order such as resisting epidemic control measures, inflicting violence on medics and illegally trading in wildlife, the guideline demanded administrative punishments as swift and severe as needed and the timely transfer of perpetrators who committed crimes to judicial organs.

It ordered judicial administrative organs to help other authorities comb through all the legal provisions regarding epidemic control and work resumption to ensure a solid legal basis for their law enforcement work.

It stressed that emergency measures such as compulsory quarantines, lockdowns and traffic arrangements must be prudently implemented without excessive law enforcement in order to minimize the damage to the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.

The guideline also emphasized the impartiality of law enforcement activities and called for strict adherence to the law when determining administrative punishments. In addition, it requested supervision over the wording and demeanor of law enforcers, calling for the avoidance of collisions and conflicts which are easily escalated by rude enforcement practices.

It encouraged innovations in law enforcement approaches based on the need for epidemic control, advocating safe and efficient online provision of administrative services.

It also stressed the need to improve the report and complaint handling mechanism, making sure that all legal disputes and complaints arising from law enforcement activities can be timely forwarded to responsible authorities. 

Individuals must be held accountable under the law for their injustice, dereliction of duty or corruption related to law enforcement, according to the guideline.