Ye Huizhen felt slightly anxious when she read last week that her community was set to become one of four pilot areas in Shenzhen to accommodate non-violent criminals.

"Shouldn't criminals stay behind bars? How can the government ensure they won't hurt their neighbours?" Ye, 60, told China Daily.

Her concerns are over a judicial reform that will allow certain offenders to serve their sentences in their communities.

"The new judicial reform allows those who serve jail terms of no longer than three years and who pose no risk to society to leave prison and do community service. It will help criminals adapt to after-jail lives as quickly as possible," said Cao Weijie, an official with Shenzhen Justice Bureau.

"Community correction," or community service as it is known in Western countries where it is common, will also help relieve pressure on the city's over-crowded prison cells, he added.

Shenzhen is one of the first cities in Guangdong Province to launch the programme, but similar programmes have been running in other parts of the country such as Shanghai for three years.

Five kinds of offenders are eligible for the programme: those under surveillance, on probation, on parole, on temporary leave from prison and those who have been released but are still deprived of their political rights.

Correction officials will monitor their behaviour, and depending on the seriousness of the offence there are four levels of surveillance.

The most serious offenders must report to the community correction office every week and submit written reports every two weeks.

The least serious offenders must report to the community correction office every two months and submit written reports every quarter.

Those who are able to work must provide 12 hours of community labour services every month.

The labour department will provide professional training and employment consultancy to offenders and, if their families are poverty- stricken, they can also apply for a social subsidy.

"We would like to monitor, educate and help offenders through the programme. As a result, they will get back on the right track and not return to their bad ways," Cao told China Daily.

Shen Kai, a senior lawyer, said fears over safety in communities were unfounded as the programme would actually make things safer.

"At the moment offenders live in communities under the control of local police, but the management of the new programme will be much better," he said.

According to the Shenzhen Justice Bureau, the first group of offenders will begin their community correction in August. The programme may cover the whole city starting from next year.

(China Daily July 31, 2006)