The future reform of the labor re-education system should address its conflict with laws, says an editorial in 21st Century Business Herald. Excerpts:

China's central authority has sent its application to the National People's Congress to stop using the re-education-through-labor system this year. Before the application is approved, China will control the use of labor re-education and will not use labor re-education to deal with petitioners who are intentionally making trouble for the government.

Although it is still unknown whether the labor re-education system will be reformed or abolished, it is necessary now to at least update the system, established in 1957, to modern times. Past experience also indicates the system has been constantly reformed in different times and played different roles.

Basically, it is used to educate the wrongdoers, especially juvenile and young offenders of small crimes. The longest term in labor re-education is three years.

It is different from the reform-through-labor system, as the young offenders get paid for their work. But the labor re-education system is no different from the reform-through-labor system in terms of who and how to enforce the education or reform.

Public security authorities have the power to use the labor re-education system without referring the cases to judicial bodies and trials. Because there is no supervisions or balance of power in this system, it is more likely to be abused, even though the punishments are much lighter than criminal sentences. If so, the personal freedom of the innocent is illegally restrained.

According to the law, no authorities, except judicial ones through trials, have the rights and powers to restrain citizens' rights.