The central government has identified areas of its judicial system for improvement to promote the rule of law and fair trial, a senior Chinese leader said Wednesday.

Luo Gan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, said China would continue efforts to ensure that its legal system was independent and fair.

The government would make it easier for the people to seek justice through the courts by improving its legal aid system for the needy and the procedure for accepting lawsuits, he told a national conference of presidents of the country's higher courts.

The public trial system and law enforcement procedures to safeguard the legitimate rights of the people concerned would be improved, said Luo.

He said the judiciary would continue to improve the training of court officials, and their awareness and respect for human rights.

With several thousand years of feudal history when administrative power was more powerful than law, it was common for some officials and rich people to attempt to intervene in legal cases.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2003)