Former security czar likely to be tried publicly if prosecuted: law professor

China's former security chief Zhou Yongkang is still under investigation by the Party's disciplinary watchdog and the probe will take time, a senior official from China's Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday, adding that the government is committed to announcing details of the case.

China's government and top court have commented publicly on Zhou's case at least three times since the conclusion of the Fourth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on October 23, which laid down a blueprint for guiding China by rule of law.

Zhang Sujun, vice-minister of justice, told a press conference on Wednesday that the investigation is still ongoing, as the case must be based on solid evidence and developed in line with relevant laws and regulations.

"Once relevant authorities have completed their probe, they will reveal [their results] to the public in an appropriate way," Zhang said.

Zhou, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was put under investigation by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) for "serious disciplinary violations" on July 29. He is the highest-ranking official to be investigated for corruption since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Jiang Bixin, deputy head of the Supreme People's Court, told a press conference on Saturday that legal proceedings against Zhou have not started.

"If prosecuting bodies initiate a case, the Supreme People's Court will, without doubt, handle it in accordance with legal procedures," said Jiang.

There were expectations among some that Zhou's case might be transferred to judicial organs at the end of the fourth plenum in October.

Jiang Wei, head of the country's office in charge of judicial reforms, told a news conference on October 30 that Zhou's case was not mentioned at the plenum because he was no longer a member of the central leadership.

Investigations into officials are first conducted by disciplinary watchdogs and transferred to prosecutors when enough evidence of legal offences is collected. However, there are no limits on the length of an investigation, experts said.

According to the Party's disciplinary rules, an investigation should be concluded within three months but investigators can ask for more time if the case is "significant" or "complicated."

"Cases of high-ranking officials, like Zhou, usually implicate many people and [require a great deal of] evidence. Some may also relate to State secrets," Ni Xing, a professor with the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, told the Global Times.

The length of a disciplinary investigation also depends on the degree to which officials under investigation cooperate, Ni said.

"The CCDI investigation into Zhou could take a long time because the Party needs to carefully review any offences they have found," a Beijing-based political scholar who wished to remain anonymous told the Global Times.

Ni added that Zhou's case is a landmark in the anti-graft campaign, and might hint at the campaign's future directions and targets.

More than 40 officials of provincial and ministerial levels or above have been placed under investigation by disciplinary watchdogs since November 2012. More than half of them have been transferred to judicial organs or stood trial.

The length of disciplinary investigations varies. For instance, the case of Xu Caihou, former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, was transferred to prosecutors in June after only three months. The case of Li Chuncheng, former deputy Party chief of Sichuan Province, was prosecuted after 17 months.

However, experts pointed out that the public should not worry about the possibility that a lengthy investigation of Zhou would allow him to escape punishment.

"Not a single official has escaped punishment following the Party's announcement of an investigation," said the Beijing-based political scholar.

Chen Zhonglin, a legal professor at Chongqing University, said that Zhou is likely to be tried publicly if he is prosecuted. "Open trials of corrupt officials are increasingly common, as it is a principle of the rule of the law and can boost public trust in the government."