依法防空请新闻发布会 Epidemic Disease Control According to Law
Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, 3 February 2020It is necessary to maintain a high-pressure situation, severely crackdown on illegal and criminal activities that disrupt social order, such as using the epidemic to drive up prices, hoarding, and looting, and severely crack down on the production and sale of counterfeit drugs, medical equipment, and medical and health materials. It is necessary to pay close attention to and resolve promptly all kinds of emerging problems, and to prevent all kinds of contradictions from overlapping and forming a chain reaction. (要保持严打高压态势，依法严厉打击利用疫情哄抬物价、囤积居奇、趁火打劫等扰乱社会秩序的违法犯罪行为，严厉打击制售假劣药品、医疗器械、医用卫生材料等违法犯罪行为。对各种苗头性问题，要密切关注、及时化解，严防各类矛盾交织叠加、形成连锁反应。)Governing China is no mean feat. And in a time of crisis there is no one but the Communist Party in a position to oversee and direct the effort to prevent the chaos that an uncontrolled communicable disease epidemic could readily bring. Measures to prevent spread - quarantine, contact-less entry to subways, education about un-grounded preventive measures, spurious cures have all been undertaken.
But scams, price gouging, theft, etc. are real dangers which could undermine public confidence.
Susan Finder lays out the guidance being offered by the Supreme People's Court on the use of the criminal law to maintain order.
Among many lessons is that the Supreme Peoples Court is not limited to "cases and controversies", but rather is also a key player in guiding prosecutors and police in how to deal with the crisis.
- GWC
Supreme People’s Court wields the Criminal Law “Big Stick” in the Anti-Coronavirus Battle | Supreme People's Court Monitor
by Susan Finder
As this blog has often commented, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) must serve the greater situation and deal with practical legal issues, so that the SPC itself and its senior leadership are correct, politically and professionally. One of those ways is by providing properly calibrated guidance to subordinates at the SPC, the lower courts and other related authorities that provides appropriate political signals. Some guidance is politically more important than others. In recent days (early February 2020), the SPC has done so through the following documents:
- Opinions on Strictly Punishing Violations and Crimes that Obstruct the Prevention and Control of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic in Accordance with Law (Punishing Crimes and Violations of Obstruction Opinions); and
- Notification on Ensuring the Safety of Medical Personnel and Preserving a Positive Medical Order During the Period of Epidemic Prevention and Control (Ensuring Positive Medical Order Notification)
This blogpost will give a quick introduction to the first document. Its importance can be seen from the photo above, of the press conference at the Central Political-Legal Commission on 10 February, at which the Punishing Crimes and Violations of Obstruction Opinions was released and explained to select members of the press. That document was issued with the participation of the Commission on Comprehensive Governance of the Country by Law (Comprehensive Governance Commission, further explained here), Party Central Political-Legal Committee, SPC, Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and Ministry of Justice (MOJ). Fu Zhenghua, Minister of Justice and deputy head of the Comprehensive Governance Commission spoke first. Representatives from the other institutions also spoke.
The National Health Commission, SPC, SPP, and MPS issued the second document.
Both of them guide those in the criminal justice system to properly wield the “Big Stick” of the criminal law (and related administrative offenses) in the anti-coronavirus battle. The first document sends signals to the political leadership that the political-legal institutions are doing their part to fulfill the objectives that General Secretary Xi Jinping set in his 3 February speech
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