BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Court on Monday issued a judicial interpretation on the handling of criminal cases related to the smuggling, illegal sale and use of athletic performance-enhancing drugs.
Expected to empower China's anti-doping efforts, facilitate fair play in sports and protect the physical and psychological health of sportspersons, the judicial interpretation will take effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Based on judicial practice, the interpretation offers guidelines and criteria for imposing penalties in cases involving the smuggling and illegal sale of banned substances.
In punishing the illegal use of drugs, the interpretation also made multiple stipulations on imposing penalties.
In the athletic test section of national-level examinations, including the college entrance examination and the civil servant examination, those who organize the doping of candidates will be penalized in accordance with the standards employed for those found guilty of the crime of cheating on exams, according to the interpretation.
For those who work in state organs or anti-doping agencies but abuse their power or fail to do their job when performing anti-doping duties, causing serious doping violations, seriously damaging the national reputation or causing negative social influence, they will be punished in accordance with the standards for the crimes of dereliction of duty stipulated in China's Criminal Law, it said.
