Procuratorial authorities should actively involve themselves in the supervision of major accidents, says a signed article in China Youth Daily. An excerpt follows:

The Ministry of Supervision, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the State Administration of Work Safety jointly issued a regulation recently, demanding procuratorial organs at various levels be invited to supervise major accident investigations.

This indicates the government's determination to curb the frequent occurrence of major safety accidents and get rid of corruption.

In recent years, accidents have happened at an astonishing frequency, and many of them are the result of derelictions of duty by relevant government officials.

It has become a common practice that a government investigation group is sent to investigate the cause of the accident, and relevant persons, if found in dereliction of duty or to have committed a crime, are submitted to procuratorial departments to be further investigated.

This procedure, however, can leave time for suspects to escape. Also, the delayed involvement of procuratorial departments offers a great chance to fabricate stories to dodge due punishments.

After all, an investigation group made up of administrative personnel lack professional legal knowledge or sensitivity to whether criminal acts have been perpetrated.

Certainly the recent move taken by relevant government departments is a major step towards reversing this situation.

However, for a quicker and more effective supervision result, procuratorial departments should voluntarily involve themselves in supervision of major accidents, rather than wait to be invited.

(China Daily March 23, 2006)