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An amendment
to the Organic Law of the People's Courts will give the defendants
one more chance to have their opinions
heard. |
Landmark legislation on anti-money
laundering and death sentences was approved by China's top
legislature Tuesday and is scheduled to take
effect on January 1.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress widened the
definition of money laundering to include corruption and bribe taking,
violating financial management regulations and financial fraud.
Previously, the law identified only drug
trafficking, organized or terrorist crime and smuggling as money laundering.
Officials and analysts believed the
ambit was too narrow and called for stepped-up efforts to
combat money laundering and stop corrupt officials fleeing abroad with
large amounts of illicit money.
The law demands that financial and some non-financial institutions
maintain customer and transaction records and report large and
suspect transactions.
The People's Bank of China, the central bank, and its provincial branch
offices are authorized to investigate suspect fund transfers.
The law, made as required by the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption, also pledges to step up co-ordination with other countries to
combat global money laundering and exchange information with overseas
anti-money laundering organizations.
"It is an important and essential step," said Zhang Xuechun, an
economist with the Asian Development Bank's Resident Mission in China.
"But how well it will be implemented depends on whether the government
can put together an efficient inter-department co-ordination mechanism,"
he said.
Zhang Hongwei, director of the anti-money laundering department of the
Ministry of Public Security, said the law would facilitate closer
co-operation between police departments and financial institutions.
Meanwhile, an amendment to
the Organic Law of the People's Courts was adopted, requiring all death
sentences to be reviewed and ratified by the Supreme People's Court.
Xiao Yang, president of the court, said that there would now be a clear
distinction between the review of a death sentence and an appeal of the
verdict. The former will be handled by the highest court while the latter
remains with provincial courts.
"It will give the defendants one more chance to have their opinions
heard," Xiao said.
Chen Zhonglin, a law professor with Southwest University of Political
Science and Law, estimated that the number of death sentences in China
would drop by at least 20 per cent after the amendment of the
law.
(China Daily) | 
