PUNISHMENT FOR MINOR OFFENSES

Laojiao, or re-education through labor, refers to a kind of administrative detention and punishment that has been used in China for more than 50 years.

The practice was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 1957.

The measure is imposed on those who are considered to have committed minor offenses, which are not serious enough to be given criminal punishments.

It aims to transform offenders through compulsory education and labor into people who “obey the law, respect public virtue, love the country and labor, and possess a certain extent of education and productive skills”.

However, those who are mentally ill, have disabilities or a serious illness, or are pregnant should not be subject to laojiao.

A sentence of laojiao can range from one to three years, with the possibility of an additional one-year extension.

People in a laojiao facility take lessons on “the legal system with socialistic characteristics, public virtues and revolutionary outlook on life” as well as vocational training.

People receiving laojiao should be “paid appropriately” based on the work they do.

The laojiao system was modified in 1982, when a temporary regulation on the measure was put into effect.

The top authority in charge of the laojiao system in China is the bureau of re-education-through-labor administration under the Ministry of Justice.