Although fighting corruption is an extremely urgent task, creating a society with complete adherence to the rule of law will be an arduous process, a CPC scholar says.

Exercising power in a transparent manner is critical to the CPC's campaign against corruption, said Xie Chuntao, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Fully implementing the rule of law in China and establishing a socialist country based around it will be a formidable task, said Xie Chuntao, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, in reference to Hu Jintao's report to the Party's 18th National Congress which stressed that power should be exercised in a transparent manner.

The Party has always emphasized the promotion of heroes and moral models, Xie said. However, the positive influence of these model members can easily be offset by the misconducts of corrupted officials. "Even though there are only a few number of such corrupt [members], their behavior has tainted the image of the Party and undermines the relationship between the Party and citizens outside the Party," Xie said.

Abuses of power and insufficient supervision have resulted in corruption, Xie explained.

"Premier Wen Jiabao once said that power should be exercised in a transparent manner. That's the golden rule in combating corruption," Xie said, adding that the Party should focus on punishment, education and supervision in its anti-corruption campaign.

Xie also blamed traditional Chinese political philosophies for present corruption – especially the traditional idea that power is closely related to wealth and when a man gets to the top, all his friends and relations get there with him. Therefore, a culture that upholds clean and honest administration is first necessary to fight corruption, Xie said.

"Corruption problems will be mitigated if we abolish some administration approval rights and shift to group decision making [from the dictatorial style]," Xie said.

Xie also called for tougher punishments, saying the death penalty should be implemented when necessary.

Lack of judicial credibility is an undeniable obstacle in building a rule-of-law-based government. Judicial unfairness and corruption have prevented the public from acknowledging the justice and accepting judgments. And when the people lose their faith in the judicial system, they will resort to extreme means to deliver their discontent, which can threaten social stability.

Xie proposed four suggestions to enhance judicial credibility. First, China should increase judicial openness and access to government information. Public supervision will not only enhance judges' sense of responsibility and the public's faith, but is also conducive to fair and just results.

"Regulating the relationship between the judicial departments and the media is key to judicial openness," Xie said. "In recent years, the media has played a leading role in public judgments, which has sometimes interfered in judicial proceedings and resulted in tension between the media and judicial departments."

Second, China should strengthen its supervision of judges, he said. The power of judges should be controlled, so that they can retain their loyalty to law and exercise their power more prudently while resisting pressure and temptation.

Third, we should stress the usage of judicial precedents. Penalties should be issued under the guidance of precedents and be subject to close scrutiny.

Fourth, we should improve the jury system. The judicial system should be participated in by interested parties as well as the whole of society. Justice should be realized in a transparent manner.

Improving judicial credibility should be realized through the development of the legal system, Xie said.

"We should enhance people's legal consciousness. They should appeal to the court if they find the verdict is unfair instead of turning to mayors or Party chiefs," Xie said. "I don't think those officials have the right to change verdicts."

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