To date, 11 professors have assumed posts as deputy procurators of the People's Procuratorates at district or county level in the Chinese capital, according to Xu Haifeng, chief procurator of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate (BMPP).

The first was Chen Xingliang, an expert in criminal law in the Law School of Peking University, who was appointed to the Procuratorate of Haidian District, where the university is situated. Following this example, procuratorates of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Xuanwu, Chaoyang and Changping (all either districts or counties under Beijing's jurisdiction) hired other professors from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China (RUC) and China University of Politics and Law (CUPL). Through legal procedures, these professors are appointed by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress at district or county level.

This action is designed to make full use of the human resources in Beijing and meet the need for high-quality legal personnel in district or county level procuratorates.

The system of politics and law and procurators was severely damaged during the "cultural revolution (1966-76)." It was not until 1996 that the BMPP decided to engage university professors in procuratorates under certain conditions.

Meanwhile, the BMPP has employed Chen Guangzhong, former president of CUPL, Wang Zuofu, an expert with RUC, as well as another 14 legal experts as consultants or supervisors.

"This is a fine measure to bring talented people into full play in procuratorates," Xu said. "These professors can help solve difficult problems in procuratorates, while collecting a large number of cases in practice to help improve their teaching."

(CIIC 02/12/2001)