The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, heard reports on judicial corruption and air pollution control at its bimonthly session on Wednesday.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, attended the session.

China's Chief justice Zhou Qiang reported to the session efforts made the court system since 2006 to curb misconduct and corruption.

"There are still some cases that are not put on record, while others are started without abiding by regulations, and judicial jurisdiction is exercised beyond designated authority," said Zhou, also president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

Some judges do not exercise discretionary power appropriately, leading to substantive or procedural injustice. Some court trials are not standard, with hearings that don't begin on time or judges who behave incorrectly, he added.

He also noted that some judges are disrespectful and even bend the law for selfish ends, severely damaging judicial credibility.

Zhou said more efforts will be made to improve the regulation of judicial conduct so people feel cases are handled fairly and justly.
Courts at various levels will target problems, such as the difficulty in filing and proceeding with lawsuits while, in many cases, court orders are not enforced, he said.

The SPC will set up circuit courts for major administrative, civil and commercial cases as soon as possible. It will also step up the establishment of special courts for intellectual property rights cases in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Zhou said.

The SPC will also explore the possibility of setting up cross-administrative regional courts and advance litigation reforms in which trials will play a central role, he added.

He also promised to promote judicial transparency, posting court verdicts online and publishing trial proceedings in a timely and open manner.
Those who refuse to exercise judgements handed down by courts will be punished according to the law, he said.

Procurator-General Cao Jianming reported to the session progress made by the prosecution system in standardizing law enforcement since 2006. He pledged efforts to stem illegally granted paroles or shortening prison terms.

Starting from March this year, prosecuting authorities strengthened supervision on changes of sentences for those involved in post-related, financial and gang-related crimes.

Until the end of September, Chinese prosecutors proposed re-jailing 800 criminals who were serving their sentence outside of jail by using their connections or bribery to lighten their penalties, said Cao.

A total of 129 state staff involved in these cases were investigated for suspected falsification, bribery and practising favoritism, he said.

The public has been complaining that powerful or rich people who committed crimes were found to have their sentence reduced, get parole or serving a jail term out of prison.

Cao said prosecutors of various levels should strictly regulate the work of investigation, supervision and public prosecution, prevent cases involving unjust, falsely and wrong charges.

He called on the country's procuratorial staff to adhere to professional ethics and the rule of law and prudently practice their duties in supervising criminal procedures.

He also said supervision from the public would be strengthened.

According to another report at the session, PM2.5 density, a main measure of air pollution, dropped by 7.9 percent in 74 major Chinese cities in the first half of 2014 compared with the same period last year,

The density of PM10, particles under 10 microns in diameter, was down by 6.5 percent, according to a report compiled by the NPC Standing Committee following a field survey conducted by itself on the enforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution.

China has vowed to strengthen air pollution control. Smog-prone Beijing will adopt a special air pollution control plan for the upcoming APEC meetings, featuring temporary closure of factories in the event of a pollution warning.

Shen Yueyue, NPC Standing Committee vice-chairwoman, told lawmakers that China has continuously increased charges for emissions of major pollutants, with charges in key cities such as Beijing and Tianjin increasing five- to 15-fold.

The newly released air quality standard covers more indices, such as those for fine particles, ozone and carbon monoxide, she added.

The report said the government has enhanced efforts in industrial restructuring, restricting the capacity of high-polluting, energy-intensive industries, eliminating obsolete productivity and dissolving surplus capacity.

Prevention and control of industrial and traffic pollution has been strengthened, it said, adding that new energy vehicles and urban afforestation have been promoted widely.

However, the report pointed out that the country's energy structure is unreasonable, with "coal consumption causing serious pollution during north China's heating period each winter."

Incompetent supervision by local governments is also to blame, it said. Of all reported cases received by the Ministry of Environmental Protection last year, 73 percent were about air pollution, but only 12 percent of cases dealt with by the ministry each year were air pollution cases, the report said.

Some enterprises even conceal or falsify monitored data in order to evade legal punishment, the report said, adding many companies prefer paying fines to actively treating pollution because "fines are far lower than the cost of pollution treatment."

It proposed seriously cracking down on law violations in environmental fields, developing clean energy, including wind, solar and nuclear power, and promoting public transport.