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were usually removed and their activities closely controlled by whatever leftist faction happened to be in control at the moment. At this time, the procuratorate was eliminated, as had been the Ministry of Justice in 1959. One of the most important developments during this period was the expansion in the cities of so-called non-criminal sanctions, generally ranging from warnings to three years reform through labour, imposed by local mediation or residents' committees in conjunction with the local police station. The mediation of neighbourhood disputes and the handling of petty local crime and anti-social behaviour by properly supervised local institutions has been, in principle, one of the more constructive developments in China since the Revolution. However, during the Cultural Revolution a vast expansion of informal and arbitrary punishment, including beatings and long-term imprisonment or deportation to the countryside, was instituted by Red Guard and other leftist groups operating in such places as schools, factories, government organizations. These leftist groups merely charged their victims with being "rightists" and then proceeded to take any suppressive action that seemed desirable to them.
Violence and factionalism reached such proportions that in September 1967 the Army was ordered to restore order, but major outbreaks continued to occur throughout 1968 and into 1969. In April 1969 the Ninth Party Congress was held, this marking the official end of the Cultural Revolution, and though some semblance of stability began to emerge thereafter, tension throughout the society continued, especially as many purged Party officials were returned to office and the split between Mao and Lin Biao intensified. During the early 1970s, the Party machinery was restored and under the leadership of Zhou En-lai the country seemed to be entering a new period of stability. However, even after the death of Lin Biao, the leadership remained divided, with the Cultural Revolution forces now being represented by what was later to be called the Gang of Four. It was not until January 1975 that the NPC met to pass a new Constitution designed to formalize the changes in China's political and social life over the past twenty years. According to the new Constitution, the People's Republic was no longer a "people's democratic state," but a "socialist state of the dictatorship of the