Procurators' presence ordered in all summary procedures

BEIJING, April 5 (Xinhua) -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has issued a new rule requiring that all summary criminal procedures have procurators present.

Chinese procurators are required to adapt under a two-phase plan, according to a statement issued on Thursday by the SPP.

Current Criminal Procedure Law says that the procuratorates may choose not to send procurators to attend simplified court hearing procedures, but a newly adopted amendment to the law makes it a compulsory duty for procurators to be present in all hearings.

Chinese legislators believe that such a move will help ensure justice in performing prosecutions and enhance the procuratorates' supervision on court proceedings, as empowered by the Constitution.

People's Procuratorates are the authorities in charge of supervising law-enforcement and judicial activities.

As the revised law is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, the SPP made a two-phase plan for the adaptation to meet the deadline.

Procurators' presence rate for summary has to reach 50 percent by Oct. 1 and 100 percent by the end of the year, said the statement.

It also set an underlying principle for the adaptation as "improving efficiency without endangering the quality of work."

Efforts should be made to optimize working mechanisms and coordinate with other agencies, urged the statement.