Anti-corruption fight

The anti-corruption campaign has, to an extent, forced corrupt officials and their bribers to become more covert in their dirty dealings.

New interpretations issued on Sunday jointly by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate listed 10 indirect bribe-taking forms to help prosecutors investigate corruption cases.

On one side of the coin, the message is clear the anti-corruption campaign has had a deterrent effect on officials who now have to resort to more covert means.

But on the other, is the fact that investigations into corruption are becoming more difficult and complicated. Prosecutors encounter more obstacles in collecting evidence against corrupt officials.

The new interpretations list as corruption: receiving stocks and shares as gifts; buying property such as houses or automobiles at ridiculously low prices from those seeking favors; making money in fixed gambling games or cooperating with others to run a company; misusing a post to make profit for others and getting money or gifts after their official tenures; making profit with the help of family members, relatives or close associates.

In some cases, an official can be convicted for doing someone a "special favor" even if he may not have actually received a bribe. People who help officials get bribes covertly can be convicted as "collaborators". The same applies to those who arrange for people ready to bribe an official to get a job done illegally.

No systematic or explicit legal explanations were given before about specific cases in which officials claimed they were not guilty as they had not directly received cash or anything else from bribers.

These new interpretations provide both prosecutors and judges with explicit guidelines on how to identify as a crime the particular ways an official can obtain illegal gains by abusing his or her power.

What is unique about these interpretations is the perception behind them: whether it is a trade between power and interest, if it is, it must be a crime. This is indeed the core of the issue and would aid prosecutors and judges in their investigations and trial of such cases.

The shrewdness and innovativeness of corrupt officials and their bribers can never be underestimated. Their dirty deals will undoubtedly become more covert and the mission to catch them will be more complicated.

Source: China Daily