BEIJING, Sept. 16 -- The number of criminal cases being contested by procuratorates following erroneous judgments by courts has increased by almost 20 percent since 2011.

A total of 6,234 criminal cases were protested in 2013, an increase of 17 percent from 2011, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Tuesday. Among the protested cases, 2,433 were reversed.

The SPP released the data following the publishing of three amended criminal cases on its official website for the first time. They have published corrected judgments on non-criminal cases since Oct. 31, 2010.

The contested criminal cases published involve crimes of robbery, theft and homicide.

In one case, Guo Mingxian had been sentenced to death with two years' suspension by the Intermediate People's Court of Mianyang city in Sichuan for murder and mafia-style gang activity.

The Higher People's Court of Sichuan Province recalled the original verdict and decided for immediate death penalty after the people's procuratorate of Mianyang protested the case.

"The publicity of such cases aims at setting an example for procuratorates to fulfill the duty of legal supervision, protect human rights and increase the public's confidence in justice," said an unidentified official with the SPP.