Mr. Chairman,
At the outset, please allow me in the name of the Chinese delegation to congratulate you and other members of the Bureau on your election. I am positive that under your able guidance this session will be a success.
Mr. Chairman,
The world is still facing a grim situation of crimes. Transnational crimes in various manifestations such as terrorist activities, organized crimes, cybercrime and illicit trafficking in cultural properties become ever more virulent. Cases of corruption, evasion of justice by offenders of economic crimes fleeing their countries and transfer of illicit assets overseas are increasing alarmingly. All countries are confronted with formidable challenges, hence it is necessary for the international community to enhance cooperation and take joint actions in response. At this session the Chinese delegation would like to engage in an in-depth exchange of views and opinions with other delegations with a view to reaching more common understandings and contributing to the combat against the multitude forms of crimes.
Mr. Chairman,
It is highly pertinent for this session to hold a thematic discussion on the challenge posed by crimes that have a significant impact on the environment. At present, global environmental problems remain a serious issue and it is imperative for all countries to combat environment related crimes and step up international cooperation in this regard.
Environmental concerns remain high on the agenda of the Chinese government and we have made the protection of environment a fundamental national policy. Sustainable development is our important strategy. In the course of promoting sustainable development of its economy in recent years, China has adopted a series of measures to enhance environmental protection and cracked down on environment related crimes. The Criminal Law of China on Crimes dedicates a whole section to offences of impairing the protection of environment and resources. The 2011 Amendment (VIII) to the criminal law contains revisions on offences of causing major environment pollution accidents and illegal mining, which expand the scope of these provisions, lower the threshold of criminalization and increase the severity of sanctions against these two categories of offences.
Cybercrime is a global issue attracting great attention and needs to be tackled through cooperation among countries. It is a shared desire of the international community to construct jointly a cyber space which is peaceful, secure, open, fair, free and orderly. China attaches great importance to combating cybercrime and has adopted integrated legislative, law enforcement and criminal justice measures and carried out active international cooperation against it with remarkable results. China holds the view that the UN and the CCPCJ, in particular, should play a well-deserved role in leading and coordinating the effort to advance the international cooperation to combat cybcrime. Together with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, we have tabled a draft resolution entitled Strengthening International Cooperation to Combat Cybercrime at this session, for the purpose of contributing to the effort of the international community to effectively counter cybercrime.
Mr. Chairman,
The Chinese government has always given priority to the work of crime prevention and criminal justice and made active efforts to improve national legislation, to render more effective its prevention of and fight against crime and to strengthen international cooperation, notably:
1. The criminal law has been continuously updated and improved. It has gone through 8 amendments in light of the changing trends of crimes with the addition of provisions on mafia style organized crime, organized terrorist acts, money laundering, computer related crimes and offences of impairing the protection of environment and resources among others, thus laying down the legal basis for effectively countering new forms of crimes.
2. Criminal justice is consistently reinforced and improved and the policy of combining firmness with leniency has been adopted. The 2011 Amendment (VIII) to the criminal law metes out more severe sanctions on organized crimes and terrorist crimes, but on the other hand enhances measures to protect minors and writes into law the system of community correction. Now community correction has been implemented nation-wide, with an aggregate of 932,000 of prisoners admitted to the community correction system by September 2012. The relapse rate during community correction is kept at around 0.2%. China is also consulting the useful evidence-based correction practices evolving in the international correctional justice field in order to apply correctional measures in a more scientific and effective way.
3 The reform of the judicial systems and institutions is deepening. Since 2008 China has initiated a new round of criminal justice reform with the revision of criminal law, law on criminal proceedings, law on civil proceedings, state compensation law and other legal instruments. A series of reform documents and corresponding institutional measures were adopted, which have helped remove institutional and operational constraints and add certainty to the advancement of criminal justice. The objective of judicial reforms in China is to maintain such a criminal justice system that is continuously improving, just, highly effective and authoritative and China will make tireless efforts towards this end.
4. The groundwork for fighting transnational crimes is rendered more robust and extensive. China has hitherto acceded to UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC),UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and nearly 20 international conventions in the field of drug-control and counter-terrorism that contain provisions on international judicial cooperation, and concluded about 120 bilateral agreements on mutual legal assistance, extradition and transfer of sentenced persons with 60 countries, which form a sound legal basis for conducting multi-facet and effective international judicial cooperation in our joint fight against transnational crimes.
Mr. Chairman,
Since its inception, the UNODC has carried out a tremendous amount of successful work in capacity building for member States and fostering international cooperation, to name just a few, which has won the admiration of the Chinese delegation. In a bid to further support the work of the UNODC, the Chinese government has decided to make financial contributions to the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund. As always, China would like to carry out practical cooperation with other countries at different levels and through various means, absorb and apply the useful practices of other countries and respond collectively to challenges in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.
Thank you Mr. Chairman