The highest prosecuting body in China, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, has ordered that all those involved in criminal cases must be advised of their basic legal rights.

According to the ruling, reported in the China Daily newspaper, victims, witnesses and suspects will be offered printed cards listing these rights whenever they come into contact with China's criminal prosecution system.

The deputy head of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Zhang Qiong, called the move a step of historical importance.

High profile campaign

He said it was part of a package of 10 new measures designed to increase judicial transparency and to remove what he called the mysterious image of China's criminal prosecution system.

From now on, he said, all prosecutors' activities, except for those legally obliged to be kept secret, would be opened up to public scrutiny.

The last year has seen a series of moves to boost public confidence in the developing legal system, including revising the law so that defendants are, in theory at least, considered innocent until proven guilty.

Commitment or pretence

But the latest measures come at a time of renewed clampdown on dissident activity; a reminder that the communist party's support for legal reform is still offset by its paranoia about organised political opposition.

Cynics see moves to promote judicial transparency as mere window dressing by a government keen to demonstrate its modernity to the outside world.

People voice injustices

But what is certain is that such moves are raising public expectations of fairness in the legal process.

Ordinary people are taking up legal disputes with official bodies in ways which were inconceivable a decade ago, and publicly voicing their dismay at perceived injustices.

Though limits to the leadership's tolerance of criticism are shown by its tight restrictions on dissident activity, many see these legal developments as part of a slow but inexorable process towards real political change.