Leading experts have argued this contradicts Chinese laws and China's Constitution.

 

　　The system has made headlines in recent months, with several cases of people being wrongfully sent for "laojiao" prompting public scrutiny of the 50-year-old method of punishment.

 

　　However, officials taking part in a national political and legal work conference held on Monday have not outlined what kind of reforms may be in store.

 

　　In October, the head of the Central Leading Group for Judicial Reform conceded to reporters there are loopholes in the system.

 

　　At that time, he also revealed the authorities were working on a draft plan to reform the "laojiao."

 

　　Currently, four cities, including Jiangsu's capital Nanjing and Shandong's capital Jinan, have rolled out pilot programs to change the reeducation through labor system.

 

　　The most recent stats from the Ministry of Justice show 160-thousand people were held in 350 re-education through labor centers across China as of the end of 2008.

 

　　Party chief Xi Jinping has been putting pressure on law enforcement to heed people's expectations for public security, judicial fairness and the protection of their rights.

 

　　This is the second time Xi Jinping has called on law enforcement officials to meet public expectations since being elected leader of the Communist Party of China in November.

 

　　On Monday, he repeated his call in an instruction letter to senior law enforcement officials before they gathered for the national political and legal work conference.

 

　　In the letter, Xi is calling for strict management of police officers.

 

　　He's also calling on officials to root-out unfairness and judicial corruption, as well as improve the affinity and credibility of their political and legal work.

 

　　For CRI, this is Wei Tong.