On January 16, 2009, the old comrades' Spring Festival tea party was held in Beijing, and Comrade Xi Jinping shook hands with Comrade Xiao Yang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Weibing
In March 2002, Comrade Xiao Yang accompanied Jiang Zemin and other central leading comrades to receive the first batch of Chinese justices. Xinhua News Agency
On September 5, 2005, Comrade Xiao Yang accompanied Comrade Hu Jintao to meet with some representatives of the 22nd World Law Congress. Xinhua News Agency
On August 18, 1989, Comrade Xiao Yang cut the ribbon and unveiled the establishment of the Anti-Corruption and Bribery Work Bureau of the People's Procuratorate of Guangdong Province. Xinhua News Agency
On September 4, 2005, Comrade Xiao Yang delivered a speech on World Law Day at the 22nd World Law Congress. Xinhua News Agency
In May 2007, Comrade Xiao Yang investigated the construction of the second office area (death penalty review office area) of the Supreme People's Court. Xinhua News Agency
Comrade Xiao Yang, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a loyal communist fighter, an outstanding leader of China's political and legal front, and the former president of the Supreme People's Court, died in Beijing at the age of 81 due to illness at 4:58 on April 19, 2019.
Comrade Xiao Yang, born in August 1938, is a native of Heyuan, Guangdong. As a teenager, he attended private primary and junior high schools in his hometown, then studied at Huiyang Senior High School in Guangdong Province, and studied at the Law Department of Chinese Min University from 1957 to 1962. After graduating from university in January 1962, he obeyed the organization's arrangement to teach at the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Political and Legal Cadre School. In August of the same year, he was transferred to the Public Security Bureau of Qujiang County, Guangdong Province. He joined the Communist Party of China in May 1966. Since 1969, he has successively served as an officer of the Propaganda Department of the Qujiang County Cpc Committee of Guangdong Province, an office officer and deputy director of the county party committee. Since 1975, he has successively served as the secretary of the party committee of Longgui Commune in Qujiang County, Guangdong Province, and the standing committee member and director of the office of the county party committee. He was keen in thought, pioneering and enterprising, paying attention to investigation and research, studying scientific farming with the grass-roots masses, promoting high-quality hybrid rice, leading the local people to build hydropower stations, and representing the Longgui Commune of Qujiang County to attend the National Commendation Conference for Advanced Agricultural Units. Since 1981, he has successively served as the secretary of the Wujiang District Committee of Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province, and the deputy secretary of the Qingyuan District Committee of Guangdong Province.
In 1983, Comrade Xiao Yang was appointed deputy chief procurator and deputy secretary of the party group of the People's Procuratorate of Guangdong Province, and in 1986, he was appointed chief procurator and secretary of the party group of the People's Procuratorate of Guangdong Province. He boldly innovated, vigorously advocated reform, put forward a series of new ideas such as procuratorial work to serve economic construction, procuratorial organs should support and protect scientific and technological personnel through performing their duties according to law, and creatively proposed measures to suspend arrests, thus realizing the organic unity of protecting production and punishing and saving criminals. In 1987, in order to promptly hunt down criminal suspects absconding with public funds in the mainland, the study opened a green channel for Guangdong and Hong Kong to join hands against corruption. In 1988, it supported and organized the Shenzhen Municipal People's Procuratorate to set up an economic crime reporting center, which played a leading and exemplary role in establishing a reporting center for the national procuratorial system. In 1989, the first anti-corruption and bribery work bureau of the national procuratorial organs was established in Guangdong, which effectively promoted the investigation of corruption and bribery cases. He adhered to principles, handled things in a timely and decisive manner, and in the political turmoil at the turn of the spring and summer of 1989, he took a firm stand and took a clear-cut stand; he held many meetings to convey the instructions of the Central Committee and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, promptly put forward strict requirements for procuratorial personnel throughout the province, and took effective measures to stabilize the ranks and crack down on all kinds of serious criminal activities.
In 1990, Comrade Xiao Yang served as deputy chief procurator, member of the party leading group, and member of the procuratorial committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and in 1992, he was appointed deputy chief procurator, deputy secretary of the party group, and member of the procuratorial committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. He is good at studying new situations and solving new problems, has a superb level of legal policies and organizational leadership, has done a lot of research and argumentation, and on the basis of extensively listening to the opinions of all parties, presided over the drafting of the Anti-Corruption and Bribery Law (draft), which has been widely praised.
In 1993, Comrade Xiao Yang was appointed Minister of Justice, Secretary of the Party Group, Member of the Central Political and Legal Committee, and Member of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Social Security. He carried out drastic reform of judicial administration, actively participated in and promoted the transformation of the concept of state governance from "legal system" to "rule of law", proposed to the central government to hold a lecture on the central legal system, and effectively promoted the implementation of the strategy of governing the country according to law. He proposed that we should establish the idea of "great service" for reform, opening up, economic construction, and social stability, and vigorously promote the reform of the lawyer system, the reform of the notary system, and the reform of the people's mediation system. In order to enable the poor, the weak and the disabled to be able to fight lawsuits and obtain necessary legal remedies, in 1994, he proposed the establishment and implementation of China's legal aid system and actively carried out pilot projects in various localities to provide legal aid to the broad masses of the people, which was widely praised by all sectors of society. He also promoted the formulation of the first prison law in New China, and made important contributions to the realization of the legalization and standardized management of China's prisons and the creation of modern civilized prisons.
In March 1998 and March 2003, Comrade Xiao Yang was elected president of the Supreme People's Court twice at the first session of the Ninth National People's Congress and the first session of the Tenth National People's Congress, and served as the secretary of the party leading group of the Supreme People's Court, a member of the Central Political and Legal Commission, a member of the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group, and a deputy director of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Social Security. During the 10 years of presiding over the work of the Supreme People's Court, he united and led a group of party groups, actively pioneered and innovated, comprehensively promoted judicial reform, and conscientiously implemented the goal of building a fair, efficient and authoritative socialist judicial system with Chinese characteristics. He advocated the establishment of a modern judicial concept, suggested that the central government implement a criminal policy of blending leniency with severity, and identified "leniency is leniency, should be strict, leniency and severity should be balanced, and punishment should be punished as a crime" as the guideline of criminal justice. Under his impetus, on January 1, 2007, the power to approve death penalty cases was officially transferred to the Supreme People's Court for unified exercise, ending the 26-year history of decentralization of approval power for some death penalty cases. He attached great importance to the top-level design, promoted the introduction of two five-year reform outlines of the people's courts, and completed a total of 89 reform measures, laying a solid foundation for the establishment and improvement of the socialist judicial system. He attaches great importance to the construction of the contingent of people's courts and the cultivation of talents, proposes to strengthen the construction of the professionalization of judges, and strives to build a contingent of people's judges who are politically competent, professionally profound, strong in guarantees, and effective in supervision through measures such as strict professional access, upgrading of vocational skills, improvement of occupational supervision, strengthening of professional safeguards, and cultivation of professional ethics. In 1998, under his impetus, the people's courts fully implemented open trials, making it clear that all cases involving state secrets, personal privacy, and juvenile crimes stipulated by law, as well as cases otherwise provided by law that are not to be tried in public, are to be tried in public to promote justice through openness; litigation costs have been significantly reduced, and judicial remedies have been explored to better protect people's rights and improve people's livelihood. He persisted in reforming and improving the retrial system, enforcement system, case jurisdiction system, adjudication committee system, people's assessor system, juvenile trial system, and so on, and made important contributions to strengthening the building of China's socialist democracy and legal system and promoting the rule of law.
After Comrade Xiao Yang retired from his leading post, he still showed great concern for the development of the cause of the party and the state, the changes in the international and domestic situations, the progress of the construction of socialist democracy and the rule of law and judicial reform, the well-being of the masses of the people, his active participation in social activities, his contributions to his ideas and contributions, and he fully demonstrated the boldness and loyalty of a Communist Party member.
Comrade Xiao Yang is a member of the 15th and 16th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China.
In his nearly 60 years of revolutionary career, Comrade Xiao Yang has always strengthened his communist ideals and convictions, adhered to the principles of party spirit, assiduously studied Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thinking of "three represents", the scientific concept of development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and consciously maintained a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in ideological and political actions. Especially since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we have resolutely safeguarded the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, and resolutely safeguarded the authority of the Party Central Committee and centralized and unified leadership. He kept firmly in mind the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, adhered to the people-centered development thinking, and always attached importance to the overall situation of the work of the party and the state. He adheres to the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, is good at using Marxist positions and viewpoints to guide practice and promote work, and has superb leadership skills and rich experience in political and legal work. He is ideologically emancipated, has the courage to blaze new trails, dares to make innovations, has a high level of policy theory and profound legal theory foundation, and is good at studying new situations, summing up new experiences, and solving new problems. He adhered to the principle of democratic centralism, maintained close ties with the masses, respected knowledge, respected talent, cared for comrades, and cherished cadres. He is good at investigation and research, grasps the overall situation, pays attention to listening to different opinions, and mobilizes and gives play to the enthusiasm of all aspects. He was optimistic and open-minded, broad-minded, straightforward, approachable, honest in performing official duties, strict in self-discipline, simple in life, strict in his family, children, and staff around him, and was admired by the vast number of cadres and the masses.
Comrade Xiao Yang's life was a life of struggle for the communist ideal, a life of struggle for the cause of reform and opening up, and a life of struggle for the construction of socialist democracy and the rule of law. His passing away is a major loss to the party and the state, and a major loss to the political and legal front. His revolutionary spirit, noble moral character and fine work style are always worth learning from us. We must turn grief into strength, unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, never forget the original intention, keep in mind the mission, work with one heart and one mind, and strive to win the decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, winning the great victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and realizing the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Comrade Xiao Yang is immortal!
(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 22)
People's Daily ( 2019-04-23 04 edition)