Report on the Rule of Law Index in China 2: No. 15, 2017

Series Preface
Contents
1 Rule of Law in China: Situation in 2018 and Prospect for 2019
	1.1 Legislative Work
		1.1.1 Improving the Constitution and Its Implementation Mechanism
		1.1.2 Legislation on Deepening the Reform
		1.1.3 Legislation on Enhancing Economic Regulation
		1.1.4 Legislation on Strengthening Ecological and Environmental Protection
		1.1.5 Legislation on Carrying Forward the Spirit of Patriotism
	1.2 Law-Based Government
		1.2.1 Implementing the Institutional Reform to Adapt to the Development of the New Era
		1.2.2 Strengthening Administrative Legislation by Focusing on Standardization and Supervision
		1.2.3 Relying on Judicial Interpretation to Improve the Administrative Litigation System
		1.2.4 Deepening the Reforms of “Simplification of Administrative Procedures, Decentralization of Powers, Combination of Decentralization with Appropriate Control, and Optimization of Services” and Transforming Government Functions
		1.2.5 Implementing the “Three Systems” to Standardize Administrative Law Enforcement
	1.3 Reforming the Judicial System
		1.3.1 Implementing the Overall Arrangement for the Reform of the Judicial System
		1.3.2 Coordinating with the Reform of the National Supervision System
		1.3.3 Continuing to Deepen the Reform of the Judicial Responsibility System
		1.3.4 Strengthening the Personnel, Financial and Material Guarantees for the Administration of Justice
		1.3.5 Standardizing the Operation of Judicial Power
		1.3.6 Fully Protecting the People’s Litigation Rights
		1.3.7 Making Every Effort to “Basically Overcome Difficulties in Enforcement”
		1.3.8 Accelerating the Construction of Smart Justice
	1.4 Criminal Law
		1.4.1 Revising and Improving the Criminal Procedure System
		1.4.2 Carrying Out Special Campaigns Against Organized Criminal Gangs
		1.4.3 Strengthening International Criminal Judicial Assistance
		1.4.4 Protecting the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Entrepreneurs in Accordance with Law
		1.4.5 Promoting the Full Coverage of Lawyers’ Defense
		1.4.6 Strengthening Procuratorial Supervision and Trial Supervision
		1.4.7 Safeguarding the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Detainees
		1.4.8 Advancing the Work of State Compensation and Judicial Assistance
	1.5 Civil, Commercial and Economic Law
		1.5.1 Responding to Major Theoretical Issues and Judicial Practical Needs Through Legislative and Judicial Work
		1.5.2 Strengthening Securities Supervision and Alleviating the Legislative Delay
		1.5.3 Improving Commercial Legislation and Building a Commercial Environment that Meets the Needs of the Times
		1.5.4 Making More Progress in Judicial and Administrative Law Enforcement Work in the Field of Intellectual Property
		1.5.5 Amending the Individual Income Tax Law to Further Optimize the National Taxation Structure
	1.6 Social Law
		1.6.1 Improving Labor, Employment and Social Security Systems
		1.6.2 Strengthening Social Assistance and Guaranteeing the Right to Subsistence and the Right to Development
		1.6.3 Bringing Medical and Health Industry Management Under the Rule of Law
		1.6.4 Deepening the Refined Development of the Rule of Law in the Field of Charity
		1.6.5 Making Unprecedented Legislative, Judicial, and Law Enforcement Efforts in the Field of Ecology
		1.6.6 Strengthening the Institution-Building and the Practice of Public Interest Litigation
	1.7 Prospect for the Development of the Rule of Law in China in 2019
		1.7.1 Comprehensively Promote Law-Based Governance and Safeguarding the Deepening of Reform and Opening-Up
		1.7.2 Breaking Through the Bottlenecks of the Existing System and Ensuring that Reform and Development Are Based on Law
		1.7.3 Exploring and Improving Relevant Supporting Systems to Ensure the Smooth Implementation of the Institutional Reform
		1.7.4 Improving Supporting Measures and Comprehensively Summing up the Experience of Judicial Reform
		1.7.5 Creating a Law-Based Business Environment to Promote Economic Construction and Opening-Up
		1.7.6 Preventing and Controlling Social Risks and Solving the Dilemma of Grassroots Social Governance
2 Report on the Indices of Government Transparency in China (2017)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on Government Websites
	2.1 Targets, Indices and Methods of Assessment
	2.2 General Situation of Assessment Results
	2.3 Bright Spots Found in the Assessment
		2.3.1 Prominent Results Had Been Achieved by Governments at Various Levels and Their Departments in Guiding the Open Government Work in Their Respective Fields and Regions
		2.3.2 The Quality of Pre-disclosure of Major Decisions Had Been Improved Significantly
		2.3.3 The Disclosure of the Results of Administrative Approval Was Refined to Facilitate Public Access
		2.3.4 The Degree of Information Disclosure in Some Administrative Law Enforcement Fields Was Relatively High
		2.3.5 The Disclosure of Information About Implementation and Its Results in Some Fields Was Relatively Standardized
		2.3.6 The Information Disclosure in Some Key Fields Was Satisfactory
		2.3.7 The Situation of Policy Interpretation and Response to Public Concerns Was Generally Satisfactory
	2.4 Problems Identified in the Assessment
		2.4.1 The Standards for Open Government Work in Some Areas Needed to Be Clarified
		2.4.2 Pre-disclosure of Decisions Needed to Be Strengthened Urgently
		2.4.3 The Disclosure of Government Service Information Was Not Detailed Enough and Needed to Be Improved
		2.4.4 The Disclosure of Administrative Law Enforcement Information Still Needed to Be Improved
		2.4.5 The Disclosure of Information About the Results of Some Government Operations Was Still Not Satisfactory
		2.4.6 There Were Still Shortboards in Information Disclosure in Key Fields
		2.4.7 The Issuance of Policy Interpretations Still Needed to Be Improved
		2.4.8 There Were Still Legal Risks in the Disclosure of Government Information upon Application
		2.4.9 The Construction of an Open Platform for the Openness of Government Affairs Needed to Be Strengthened
	2.5 Prospect of Development
3 Report on the Indices of Government Transparency in China (2018)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on Government Websites
	3.1 Targets, Indices and Methodology of Assessment
	3.2 General Situation of the Assessment Results
	3.3 Bright Spots Discovered in the Assessment
		3.3.1 Expanding the Fields of Openness and Elaborating the Provisions on Openness
		3.3.2 Making Progress in the Pre-openness of Major Decision-Making
		3.3.3 Markedly Improving the Disclosure of Information About the Review of Normative Documents
		3.3.4 Gradual Refining of the Disclosure of Government Service Information
		3.3.5 Satisfactorily Implementing the System of “Double Random Inspection and Public Disclosure of the Results of Inspection”
		3.3.6 Improving the Publication of Annual Reports on the Construction of a Law-Based Government
		3.3.7 Standardizing the Disclosure of Policy Interpretation Information for the Convenience of the People
		3.3.8 Making Online Interactive Platforms an Important Channel of Response to Public Concerns
		3.3.9 Maintaining Unblocked Channels of Disclosure upon Application for the Convenience of the People
	3.4 Problems Identified in the Assessment
		3.4.1 The Pre-disclosure of Major Decision-Making Still Needed to Be Improved
		3.4.2 The Information About the Recordation and Review of Some Normative Documents Had Not Been Disclosed
		3.4.3 The Power Lists Were Not Disclosed or Updated in a Complete and Timely Manner
		3.4.4 Government Service Guides Were Incomprehensive and Inconsistent in Content
		3.4.5 Some Assessment Targets Failed to Disclose Information or Disclosed Incomplete Information About Double-Random Inspections
		3.4.6 The Issuance of the Annual Report on the Construction of a Law-Based Government Had Not yet Been Normalized
		3.4.7 Some Matters and Results of Administrative Penalties Were Not Disclosed in a Timely Manner
		3.4.8 The Audit Results of Local Governments Were Not Disclosed in a Comprehensive and Timely Manner
		3.4.9 The Level of Disclosure of Suggestions Made by Members of People’s Congresses and Proposals Made by CPPCC Members Was Still Not High
		3.4.10 The Quality of Disclosure of Information About Policy Interpretation Still Needed to Be Improved
		3.4.11 The Level of Disclosure of Compulsory Education Information by the Governments of Some County- and District-Level Governments Was Relatively Low
		3.4.12 There Were Still Shortboards in the Disclosure of Information upon Application by Some Local Governments
	3.5 Future Prospect of Openness of Government Affairs
4 Report on Indices of Judicial Transparency in China (2017)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on Court Websites
	4.1 Assessment Index System
	4.2 The Overall Result
	4.3 Bright Spots Found in the Assessment
		4.3.1 Steadily Increasing the Transparency of Trial Affairs
		4.3.2 Advancing Openness of Trial in Breadth and Depth
		4.3.3 “Basically Overcoming Difficulties in Enforcement” Through Transparent Enforcement
		4.3.4 Promoting Judicial Reform in a Visible Way
	4.4 Existing Problems
		4.4.1 The Need to Improve the Disclosure of Judgment Documents
		4.4.2 Unsatisfactory Disclosure of Key Information
		4.4.3 Insufficient Information Disclosure
		4.4.4 The “Matthew Effect” in Judicial Openness in Different Regions
		4.4.5 Lack of Prominent Demand-Orientation of Judicial Openness
		4.4.6 Poor Integration of Judicial Information
		4.4.7 Questionable Fees for the Live Broadcast of Court Trials
	4.5 Suggestions for Improvement and Prospect of Future Development
		4.5.1 Optimizing Platform Construction by Relying on Information Technology
		4.5.2 Deepening Judicial Openness from the Perspective of Public Demand
		4.5.3 Further Standardizing the System of and Mechanism for Openness
		4.5.4 Raising the Level of the Openness of Judicial Big Data
		4.5.5 Strengthening the Operation and Maintenance of Court Websites
5 Report on Indices of Judicial Transparency in China (2018)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on Court Websites
	5.1 Assessment Index System
	5.2 The Overall Result
	5.3 Bright Spots Found in Assessment
		5.3.1 Strengthening the Top-Level Design
		5.3.2 Strengthening the Construction of Unified Platforms of Openness
		5.3.3 Constantly Innovating the Form of Judicial Openness
		5.3.4 Achieving Remarkable Results in the Disclosure of Judgment Documents
		5.3.5 Humanizing the Methods of Information Disclosure
		5.3.6 Continuously Enhancing the Awareness of Active Openness
	5.4 Existing Problems
		5.4.1 The Details of the Disclosure of Judgment Documents Still Need to Be Improved
		5.4.2 The User-Friendliness of Websites Needs to Be Further Improved
		5.4.3 There is Still Room for Improvement in the Openness of Enforcement
		5.4.4 The Disclosure of Judicial Reform Information is Still Faced with Many Difficulties
		5.4.5 The Level of Openness of Courts Varies from Region to Region
	5.5 Suggestions and Prospects of Improvement
		5.5.1 Attaching Importance to Judicial Openness
		5.5.2 Refining the Standards of Judicial Openness as Soon as Possible
		5.5.3 Properly Handling the Relationship Between Openness on Unified Platforms and Innovative Openness
		5.5.4 Designating Special Departments to Be Responsible for Judicial Openness
		5.5.5 Expanding Channels of Judicial Openness Through the Application of Information Technology
6 Report on Indices of Procuratorial Transparency in China (2017)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on the Websites of Procuratorates
	6.1 Targets, Indices and Methods of Assessment
	6.2 Overall Assessment Results
	6.3 Summarization of Achievements and Experiences
		6.3.1 Making the Openness of Procuratorial Affairs the Focus of Reform
		6.3.2 Initially Forming a Synergy Through Multiple Channels
		6.3.3 Increasing the Convenience of Information Access
		6.3.4 Diversifying the Openness of Legal Documents
		6.3.5 Extending the Function of Openness of Procuratorial Affairs
		6.3.6 Making Remarkable Achievements in the Disclosure of Statistics and Reports
		6.3.7 Achieving Remarkable Results in Barrier-Free Access to Information
	6.4 Existing Problems and Shortcomings
	6.5 Prospects and Suggestions
7 Report on Indices of Procuratorial Transparency in China (2018)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on the Websites of Procuratorates
	7.1 An Overview of the Assessment
	7.2 General Situation
	7.3 Achievements and Innovations
		7.3.1 Significant Progress Had Been Made in the Disclosure of Basic Information
		7.3.2 The Disclosure of Case Information Had Been Developing Towards Normalization
		7.3.3 Remarkable Results Have Been Achieved in the Openness Through New Media
		7.3.4 The Openness of Data and Reports Was Effective
		7.3.5 The Performance of Some Procuratorates in Central and Western Provinces Was Eye-Catching
		7.3.6 Active Explorations Had Been Made into the Convenience and User-Friendliness of Websites
	7.4 Problems and Prospects
		7.4.1 There Are Prominent Problems in Some Fields that Urgently Need to Be Solved
		7.4.2 The User-Friendliness and Convenience of Openness of Procuratorial Affairs Need to Be Improved
		7.4.3 The Need to Change the Current Situation of Being Stagnant and Doing a Crash Job in the Openness of Procuratorial Affairs and to Move Towards the Normalization of the Work
		7.4.4 There Are a Wide Variety of Practices of Openness of Procuratorial Affairs Which Need to Be Standardized and Unified Through Institutional Construction
		7.4.5 The Lack of Sufficient Embodiment of Local Characteristics and the Need to Ensure that Each Unit Performs Its Own Functions
		7.4.6 The Instability of Platforms is a Prominent Problem, and It is Necessary to Strengthen Operation Guarantee and Maintenance Support
8 Report on Indices of Transparency of Police Affairs in China (2017)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on the Websites of Public Security Organs
	8.1 The Special Values of Openness of Police Affairs in China
		8.1.1 The People's-Livelihood Dimension of Openness of Police Affairs in China
		8.1.2 The Rule-of-Law Dimension of the Openness of Police Affairs in China
		8.1.3 The Judicial Dimension of the Openness of Police Affairs in China
		8.1.4 The Integrity Dimension of the Openness of Police Affairs in China
	8.2 The Index System and Assessment Targets and Methods
		8.2.1 The Principles of the Design of the Index System
		8.2.2 The Construction and Interpretation of the Index System
		8.2.3 Assessment Targets and Methods
	8.3 Assessment Results: Transparency of Police Affairs Has Become a Model of Openness of Government Affairs
	8.4 Bright Spots Discovered in the Assessment
		8.4.1 Services Had Become Networked and Transparent
		8.4.2 Local Intensification Had Been Realized for the Openness of Police Affairs
		8.4.3 The Disclosure of Institutional Information Was Satisfactory
		8.4.4 The Openness of Budget and Final Accounts Had Become the Norm
		8.4.5 The Trend Towards Data Openness Was Obvious
		8.4.6 The Openness of Penalties Had Gradually Become a Common Practice
	8.5 Problems and Prospects
		8.5.1 Strengthening the Disclosure of Personnel Information
		8.5.2 Improving Financial Openness
		8.5.3 Integrating Platforms of Openness
		8.5.4 Standardizing the Openness of Documents
		8.5.5 Opening up Public Security Data
9 Report on Indices of Transparency of Police Affairs in China (2018)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on the Websites of Public Security Organs
	9.1 The Index System and Targets and Methods of Assessment
		9.1.1 Optimization of the Index System
		9.1.2 The Construction and Interpretation of the Index System
		9.1.3 Targets and Methods of Assessment
	9.2 Assessment Results
	9.3 The Effect of Openness of Police Affairs: A System of Intelligent Police Affairs is Beginning to Take Shape
		9.3.1 Providing Convenient Services to Improve People's Livelihood
		9.3.2 Highlighting the Rule of Law Through Sunshine Law Enforcement
		9.3.3 Disclosing Information About Administrative Penalties to Encourage Honesty
		9.3.4 Promoting Intelligent Decision-Making Through the Openness of Data
	9.4 The Dilemma of Choice Faced by China in the Openness of Police Affairs
		9.4.1 Publicity and Openness
		9.4.2 Openness and Confidentiality
		9.4.3 Real Name and Anonymity
		9.4.4 Decentralization and Intensification
	9.5 Choosing the Path of Improving the Transparency of Police Affairs in China
		9.5.1 Desensitization
		9.5.2 Intensification
		9.5.3 Standardization
10 Report on Indices of Maritime Judicial Transparency in China (2017)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on the Websites of Maritime Courts
	10.1 A Review of Important Events of Maritime Judicial Openness in China in 2017
		10.1.1 The Importance Attached to Judicial Openness by the Work Report of the Supreme People's Court
		10.1.2 The Release of the Top Ten Typical Maritime Cases of the Year for the First Time by the Supreme People's Court
		10.1.3 The Second Batch of Ten Typical Cases Involving “the Belt and Road Initiative” Issued by the Supreme People's Court
		10.1.4 The First Maritime Criminal Case in China Tried by a Chinese Maritime Court
		10.1.5 New Breakthroughs in the Informatization of Maritime Courts
		10.1.6 The Adoption of the First Five-Year Plan for the Development of Maritime Court in China
	10.2 Index System and Assessment Methods
		10.2.1 Assessment Targets
		10.2.2 Emphases of Assessment
		10.2.3 The Index System
		10.2.4 Methods and Principles of Assessment
	10.3 Overall Assessment Results
	10.4 Assessment Results of Various Modules
		10.4.1 Openness of Trial Affairs
		10.4.2 Openness of Case-Filing and Court Trial
		10.4.3 Openness of Documents
		10.4.4 Openness of Enforcement
	10.5 Suggestions for Improvement
11 Report on Indices of Maritime Judicial Transparency in China (2018)—From the Perspective of Information Disclosure on the Websites of Maritime Courts
	11.1 A Review of Important Policies and Events of Maritime Judicial Openness in China in 2018
	11.2 Index System and Assessment Methods
		11.2.1 Assessment Targets
		11.2.2 Emphases of Assessment
		11.2.3 The Index System
		11.2.4 Assessment Methods
	11.3 Assessment Results
	11.4 Suggestions for Improvement
12 Protection of the Rights of the Child in China and Third-Party Assessment Index System
	12.1 Legal Framework of the Protection of the Rights of the Child in China
		12.1.1 International Law Framework of the Protection of the Rights of the Child in China
		12.1.2 The Domestic Legal Framework and Legal System of Protection of the Rights of the Child in China
	12.2 The Current Situation of Protecting the Rights of the Child in China
		12.2.1 Achievements Made by China in Protecting the Rights of the Child
		12.2.2 Existing Problems in the Protection of the Rights of the Child in China
	12.3 The Index System for Assessing the Protection of the Rights of the Child
		12.3.1 The Purpose of Establishing the Index System
		12.3.2 Principles of Establishment of the Index System
		12.3.3 A Brief Introduction to the Indices