Introduction

Since 2003, community corrections have been piloted in a few cities in China. In 2011, Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China encompassed community corrections as an integral part of the Criminal Law, signifying that the legality of community corrections within the Criminal Law has been established in legislation. According to the Notice on Carrying out Pilot Work of Community Correction jointly issued by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice in July 2003, community corrections in China is a form of an alternative penalty to prison correction and a means to ensure that offenders sentenced to surveillance, probation, parole and temporarily serving their sentences outside prison are able to serve their sentences in the community. State organs, including local justice departments, with the assistance of social groups, non-governmental organizations and community volunteers, are responsible for correcting the offender’s criminal mentality and problematic behavioral habits, and promoting their successful reintegration and rehabilitation into society.