The Supreme People's Procuratorate of China has established a national-level "talent bank" for public prosecutors to assist in cracking down on dereliction of duty and rights infringements by crooked public servants.

The move is being made to help guarantee judicial fairness and social stability, the procuratorate said.

About 200 excellent prosecutors were selected from more than 10,000 nationwide and accepted into the "talent bank," who now can be called upon to take charge of investigating major malfeasance or rights infringement cases, officials said.

Similar personnel banks are being established at provincial and prefectural people's procuratorates, according to authorities.

Judicial supervision departments will also enhance their efforts against the violation of citizens' civil and democratic rights by judicial and administrative personnel.

Judicial and administrative malfeasance and rights infringement problems have been on an upward trend in recent years, in nearly all the nation's sectors and regions, officials said.

According to Chinese law, procuratorate departments can directly set up and investigate 35 kinds of crimes involving dereliction and six types of infringement acts by public servants.

Yet due to lack of corresponding punishments, many criminals have turned a deaf ear to procuratorates' warnings and have even collaborated with other lawbreakers in corrupt activities, such as soliciting or collecting bribes.

Such crimes are most often combined with corruption, or trading one's power for money, said the official.

Through collaborating with others, criminals have become more cunning and difficult to discover.

Prosecutors are ready for the challenge, officials said, targeting individual areas for major pushes.

Such crimes have been concentrated in sectors such as land approval departments, and the production and sale of fake products.

Song Hansong, an SPP official in charge of malpractice and infringement acts by civil servants, said procuratorates will target supervision of urban construction among other main fields this year.

In Central China's Hubei Province, for example, procuratorates have cracked down on 942 cases during the past three years, punishing as many as 1,086 civil servants who committed illegal acts.

(China Daily April 12, 2004)