Petitioning ( zh, s=信访, p=xìnfǎng, literally "letters and visits")). is the administrative system for hearing complaints and grievances from individuals in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It is the primary tool for dispute resolution in the country.
Origins
In ancient imperial times, petitioners were called "people with grievances" ( zh, t=冤民, p=yuānmín). Petitioners who needed justice would come to the
yamen
A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of govern ...
of the
county magistrate
County magistrate ( or ) sometimes called local magistrate, in imperial China was the official in charge of the ''xian'', or county, the lowest level of central government. The magistrate was the official who had face-to-face relations with the ...
or high official and beat a drum to voice their grievances. As such, every official court was supposed to be equipped with a drum for this sole purpose. Sometimes petitioners would throw their bodies in front of a sedan chair of the high official. When no one else at the local level was able to help, petitioners would travel to the then empire's capital to seek higher official's help.
Petitioners in recent years sometimes search for justice through the legal system or local petitioning bureaus. However, those who feel that justice has eluded them often still travel to Beijing as a last resort to appeal to the rulers in the age-old manner.
System
The petitions can take many forms, including phone calls, faxes, visits or even e-mails to any government office with regard to any of the issues. Under the system, the
National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration
National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration (), formerly named as Letters and Calls Bureau, also known as Xinfang Bureau, Petition Administration, is a deputy-cabinet level state agency in the People's Republic of China that is subordi ...
and local bureaus of letters and calls ("petitioning bureaus") are commissioned to receive letters, calls, and visits from individuals or groups on suggestions, complaints, and grievances. The officers then channel the issues to respective departments and monitor the progress of settlement, which they feedback to the filing parties.
Petitioning bureaus are ostensibly a communication channel between the government and the citizenry, and have been relied on since the establishment of the PRC in 1949. Petitioners may begin their attempts for redress at the local level with letters and calls to offices, which are located in courthouses or in township-level government offices. If unsatisfied, they can move up the hierarchy to provincial level offices and, at the highest level, the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration in Beijing.
The number of petitioners in Beijing alone has allegedly reached more than 100,000 people, not counting those that remain at provincial capitals. The number of people using the petitioning system has increased since 1993, to the extent that the system has been strained for years. Official statistics indicate that petition offices annually handled around 10 million inquiries and complaints from petitioners from 2003 to 2007. However, despite its enduring nature and political support, the system has never been an effective mechanism for dealing with the complaints brought to it.
Issues
Interception
Provincial capitals have been accused of hiring people in Beijing to abduct petitioners who have travelled from their areas and force them to go back home; this is known as "intercepting." The apparent aim of interceptors is to prevent citizens from appealing in Beijing because local officials face reprisals if citizens from their areas seek redress in the capital.
Imprisonment and abuse
Human rights organizations have accused Chinese authorities of arbitrarily imprisoning large numbers of petitioners in
black jails
Black jails () are a network of extralegal detention centers established by Chinese security forces and Private security company, private security companies across the People's Republic of China. They are used mainly to detain, without trial, P ...
or other illicit detention facilities. In 2009, Human Rights Watch produced a report alleging that large numbers of petitioners, including children, are detained in black jails, and documented several allegations of torture and mistreatment in the facilities.
See also
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Memorial to the throne
A memorial to the throne () was an official communication to the Emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a ...
, the equivalent petition under imperial China
*
Black jails
Black jails () are a network of extralegal detention centers established by Chinese security forces and Private security company, private security companies across the People's Republic of China. They are used mainly to detain, without trial, P ...
*
Clameur de haro
The () is an ancient legal injunction of restraint employed by a person who believes they are being wronged by another at that moment. It survives as a fully enforceable law to this day in the legal systems of Jersey and Guernsey, and is used ...
;
ombudsman
An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
*
Weiquan movement
The Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers, legal experts, and intellectuals in China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism. The movement, which began in the early ...
Notes
References
{{Wikisource, Main functions of Jiangsu Provincial Bureau for Letters and Calls
Politics of China
Human rights in China