Now seeing a judge in the street isn’t that common, let alone one that’s protesting - what are Internet users saying? Well. It seems that a lot of people are pretty shocked by it. The general feeling is that if even a judge needs to protest to get justice what hope is there for the rest of us? A lot feel it shows the Chinese legal system in general is in a complete mess. And in terms of this specific case, one person says that the Labour Contract Law is very difficult to implement in China because of a lack of supervision of employers, so it’s up to the government to remedy that.

People in the United States count on their legal system to render fair, transparent verdicts. It’s crucial to the functioning of a modern economy, and to keeping the peace in a complex, fast moving society. The legal system here in China is now finding itself called to take on the same role. It’s marshalling its forces to the task, with the largest training session for lower-level judges in China’s history just completed.

The death sentence handed down to (The execution of) British drug smuggler Akmal Shaikh and the requests for clemency from the British government and other groups has highlighted the conflicting attitudes towards both the death penalty and the defense of “diminished responsibility” in China and the UK.

The has set off a torrent of discussion on-line with thousands of comments left at ifeng.com - a popular Chinese website that has been reporting the case.

The vast majority are of the opinion that it would not only be unfair but a serious challenge to Chinese law if the government spared the life of a convicted drug smuggler. These people insist there should be no sympathy for drug smugglers as heroin is one of the most dangerous drugs on the planet. They say it harms people, society and families – and the problems it causes cost the government billions a year. In addition there’s a widespread feeling that the way China runs its legal system is nothing to do with outsiders. They say this man was in China when he committed the crime and it should be up to the Chinese courts to punish criminals as they see fit.

China's household registration system is known as Hukou. In the city of Chongqing…which is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government in China… the hukou system is now starting to be reformed. This is allowing ten million rural residents to have urban residency certificates. Over the next two years, an estimated three million people will gain urban citizenship. Within just a week after the reform plan started, 34 thousand villagers had already obtained an urban residency certificate. As the hukou strongly affects Chinese in their everyday life, the reform is bringing much attention to the system. BON's Hattie Zhao went to find out how ordinary Chinese people are experiencing the system change.

A Pleasure Doing Business?
New Piracy Crackdown
A Sewn Up Case
China's Media Savvy
Ruff Justice
Parents Anti-Snooping Law