Law on State Compensation: Delayed justice offers new hope

The draft amendment of the Law on State Compensation offers new hope for a young man who spent 13 years in jail on false robbery charges. Though he was eventually cleared,  he's still waiting to apply for state compensation.

In 1992, Xu Jingxiang, a farmer in Henan Province was convicted on burglary charges and was sent to jail for 16 years.

Five years passed before a provincial procurator found discrepancies in his case and decided to ask the courts to re-examine the farmer's conviction.

Jiang Hansheng, procurator of Henan Procuratorate,said, "The court convicted him of burglary in eight different cases. After re-examination, we found no correlation between these cases because the accomplices are different, no lethal weapon or stolen goods were found and the only testimony is not a signed statement by the farmer, but someone else. "

An apparent case of injustice took the procurator eight years to reverse. In the end, it was a 13 year ordeal for the accused. During this legal marathon, it took 4 years and 10 month for the police to collect evidence, procurators sent the case back due to insufficient evidence seven times, and there were five counter appeals. Nothing was finalized even as Xu Jingxiang's jail term was about to expire. In the end, the Henan Procuratorate decided to withdraw the case.

On March the 15th, 2005, Xu Jingxiang was released, 15 days before his term expires. His case became the first in which the defendant successfully reversed a criminal conviction in Henan.

But the trials and long years in prison had shattered Xu's family and destroyed his life. His parents had died, his wife had divorced him and moved to another province, his children couldn't continue in school because of poverty. His old house is now nothing but a deserted hut.

When he returned to his village, his grievances finally found an outlet.

Farmer Xu Jingxiang said, "My biggest regret is that I wasn't there when my parents died. I am not a good son, I did not fulfill the duty to take care of them when they are old. It's a loss I can never make up for.  "

After his release, Xu Jingxiang filed a petition for state compensation of five hundred and sixty thousand yuan.

Four years later, his case is still going through the restitution process.

Xu Jingxiang arrived with his lawyer at the Henan Higher People's Court. His lawyer says it was to confirm that he is the legal representative of Xu despite the fact he's worked on the case for four years. They had come all the way from Shanxi Province for this appearance.

The Higher People's Court turned down their request to proceed with the restitution and said they should contact the Municipal Intermediate People's court instead. However, when the lawyer called the judge of the city court, no one answered.

But Xu Jingxiang refused to leave, clinging to the faint hope that things might change before the day ended. Before travelling to Henan, he had broken one of his fingers at work. Even though he was in pain,  after almost 17 years waiting for justice, a few hours with a broken finger seemed nothing compared to legal ordeal.

However, deputies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress are now reviewing legislation that may speed up Xu Jingxiang's restitution process.

Ma Huaide, one of the drafter of the amendment interpreted the new changes made to the Law on State Compensation. He says in Xu Jingxiang's case, local procuratorates and courts are considered obligatory government bodies.

Ma Huaide said, "The local courts and procuratorates had incorrectly interpreted the restitution process. They believe if they agreed to pay the compensation, then it means admitting wrong doing. So they shifted responsibilities to each other and the restitution process came to a halt. The Law on State Compensation says as long as an organization issues a non-prosecution paper, or cancels a verdict of a innocent person, then it is obligated to pay compensation to the victim on behalf of the state."

But for Xu Jingxiang, his ordeal will carry on a little longer as he awaits the NPC vote that will make the amendment law.