China's top legislature might add mental distress to conditions covered by the Tort Law to improve civil rights protection, under legislation submitted on Monday.

The long-awaited draft Tort Law, designed to provide compensation for those whose rights are violated, was tabled at the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for a second reading.

"Existing laws don't clearly stipulate provisions for mental distress, but there are already many cases in which such claims have been made," Vice Chairman of the NPC Law Committee, Li Shishi, told lawmakers.

In most cases, people experience both economic loss and mental distress when their civil rights are violated, so the latter should also be covered by law, Li said.

The 1987 General Principles of the Civil Law only cover rights to name, image, reputation and honor. No compensation for mental distress in cases involving death or injury was mentioned.

With an increase in claims for mental distress, the Supreme People's Court in 2001 issued a judicial interpretation that stipulated detailed conditions under which victims can claim compensation for mental distress.

Yang Lixin, a law professor at Renmin University of China, told Xinhua that the General Principles of the Civil Law are "not complete" and to include mental compensation in the Tort Law draft would rectify the "key defect" in China's legal system.

"Even though the 2001 judicial interpretation was very comprehensive, it is not law," Yang said. "The draft marks major progress."

Under the draft, only those whose life or health are seriously damaged would be entitled to compensation. These includes cases in which victims eventually die, are crippled or experience serious psychological damage.

Given the complexity of mental distress cases, the draft doesn't stipulate a uniform compensation standard. Amounts would be left to the courts to decide based on legal precedents.

The law draft was reviewed by the 9th NPC Standing Committee in December, 2002 as a part of the Civil Code draft. The NPC Standing Committee then decided to debate the nine law drafts, which constitute the Civil Code, one by one.