The Charge of ‘Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble’ Has Been Abused, China’s Top Court Says

China’s top court said the criminal charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” has been abused in judicial practice in certain provinces, after this broadly worded offense was used controversially against rights defenders.

A survey by Teng Wei, a senior judge at the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), found “a clear tendency (among local courts) to generalize the application” of the crime, according to a report published Wednesday in People’s Court Daily, a newspaper run by the SPC.