Legislators clear way to cover liabilities from pollution to privacy

A long-awaited law designed to ensure people get compensation when their civil rights are infringed finally got the green light from China's legislators at the weekend, seven years after its first reading.

The 92-provision Tort Law covers a range of liabilities, including traffic and medical accidents, work-related injuries, pollution, harm caused by pets and mental distress.

It also covers infringements of personal rights, such as reputation and privacy.

The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Saturday endorsed the law, which will take effect in July and have equal importance with the Property Law.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the law was significant in "protecting civil rights and people's interests, preventing and punishing infringement acts, reducing conflicts and promoting social stability".

The Tort Law stipulates that people can ask for compensation if serious mental damage is caused to their health or reputation.

"That's a breakthrough. It's the first time Chinese laws have such clear stipulations on mental damage compensation," said Wang Shengming, deputy director of the legislative affairs commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

Victims of major traffic accidents and mine disasters can also get the same payouts, regardless of whether they are from urban or rural areas.

People can now demand more than their actual losses if companies continue to make products they know are defective, another first for Chinese legislation, legal experts said.

Yang Lixin, a professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing who helped draft the law, said the rule could be applied for victims of the Sanlu baby formula scandal.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least six babies were killed and more than 300,000 others made ill by baby food tainted with melamine, most of which was made by the Sanlu group.

The draft law was submitted to the national legislature for its first reading in 2002 as part of the draft Civil Law.

However, the NPC decided to review it separately and the draft was resubmitted late last year. The number of civil rights infringements has grown in recent years. Courts across China handled about 870,000 cases in 2007, said the NPC law committee, although there was no law to ensure compensation at the time.

The five-day bimonthly session of the NPC on Saturday also approved new regulations to better promote development and protection of the nation's islands. According to the law, China will strengthen protection of eco-systems, rational utilization of natural resources and sustainable development on its sea islands.

Legislators also voted to ratify a United Nations protocol combating human trafficking.