THE AUTHORITIES' LATEST PRESCRIPTION FOR litigation-related petitions may work better than previous ones, because it represents a serious attempt to have things done within a legal framework. But its efficacy ultimately rests on how well the judiciary works.

The xinfang system, as a supervisory and remedial means to hear public complaints about injustice as a result of misconduct by public institutions and functionaries, is a product of the pre-rule-of-law era.

Rule of law is yet to be an established truth on our soil, but our national laws have formulated such a sophisticated framework that few concerns are beyond coverage. After repeated revisions and amendments, our criminal, civil, and administrative procedure laws have stipulated workable channels for both judicial and administrative redress when injustice occurs.