Prison System

in
China

Reported by:
Jessie Q Jurial Jr
 The Prison Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted and went
into force on December 20, 1994 at the 11th meeting of the Standing Committee
of the Eighth National People's Congress.

The Prison Law provides that the State Council judicial administration (Ministry
of Justice) supervises all prisons across the country.

The Ministry of Justice has a Bureau of Prison Administration that supervises all
prisons in the country. In the provinces (municipalities directly under the central
government and autonomous regions), offices of justice are responsible for
managing prisons in their own jurisdiction through their prison administration
arms.
 In Chinese prison services, there have been various new ways of
mobilizing public participation in helping re-mold prisoners.

For example, famous scholars, writers, educators, artists, musicians and

sportspeople are invited to call on prisoners, and encourage them to make more
efforts to reform themselves; former prisoners who have been already
integrated into the society after release are organized to persuade current
inmates to re-mould themselves; family members, relatives and friends of the
prisoners are encouraged and provided with every facility to admonish and
educate them.

Prisons are commonly called, reform-through-labor organs or labor reform

institutions.

There are mainly 5 types of incarcerate institutions:

1)Prisons;

2)Reform-through-labor institutions, in which criminals are sentenced to a

minimum of 1 year fixed-term imprisonment;

3) Reform house of juvenile delinquents;

4) Juyi house (criminal detention house), which houses offenders sentenced

to criminal detention; and the

5) Kanshou house (detention house), which houses offenders awaiting trial.

As of 1991, there were 684 prison institutions including Reform-Through-

Labor Teams and Juvenile Reformatories.
 The Prison Law states that the state ensures funding for prisons in
reforming inmates. Expenses related to prison police, reformation of prisoners,
daily life of inmates, maintenance of prison facilities and other items are
budgeted for in the central government's planning.

The state provides production facilities and funding needed for prison
labor. Land, mineral resources and other natural resources legally employed by
prisons, as well as the property of prisons are protected by law; no entity or
individual can trespass or damage those properties.
  Fundamental Principles

Article 3 of the Prison Law states that prisons should follow the
principle of combining penalty with reform, education with labor, in a bid to
reform prisoners into law-abiding citizens.

1. Transformation through Punishment

• Prisons punish criminals because, without punishment, it is difficult for

criminals to come to grips with their crimes and begin their life anew.
While punishment focuses on enforcement, reform focuses on
transformation. Punishment is the means, while transformation is the
end.

• The purpose of punishment is to transform criminals into law-abiding

citizens. This is precisely what criminal penalties are for. Prisons do not
punish criminals for punishment's sake.

2. Combining Education with Labor

 To effectively reform prisoners, it is also necessary to combine education

with labor. Education can be multifaceted: ideological, cultural, vocational
and technical.
• Adult prisoners normally work eight hours a day; extended work
hours as necessitated by production plans should be approved by prison
authorities.

• Prisoners should take statutory holidays and weekends off.

• Prisoners also have two hours of study time and eight hours of sleep
everyday.

• Prisoners of minor age work half a day and study half a day; their sleep
time should be no less than nine hours a day. Prisoners of minor age
should not engage in heavy manual labor, labor that is beyond their
physical capabilities, or other work that hampers their physical health. In
addition, prisoners should have time for cultural or sports activities every
day.
• Prisoners should be provided with food and beverages comparable to
those provided to workers in similar fields at local state-owned
enterprises of similar size.

• Prisoner kitchens should be managed by full-time staff and efforts should

be made to improve the diet of prisoners as much as possible.

• Prison cells and surrounding facilities should comply with requirements

for incarcerating criminals and other statutory requirements such as
sanitation, fire control, anti-earthquake and heating standards.

• In addition, prisons should also set up clinics or hospitals in accordance

with the size of the prison and the number of inmates and be equipped
with needed medical devices and drugs.