Breakthroughs in Judicial Reform
- By Jiao Feng
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E-mail China Today, February 27, 2014
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| March 13, 2013 is the open day of the People's Court in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. Twenty residents participated in the activity themed on "supervision and communication, jointly promote the open judiciary." |
Doubling Plan for Jurors
Since 2004, China has officially operated a people's juror system and explicitly defined the nature, status, duty, selection, appointment and responsibility of jurors. In the last decade, the rate of cases in which people's jurors have participated has increased year by year. As of November 2013, the rate reached 72.73 percent in the ordinary procedure of trials of the first instance.
The people's juror system is one of the embodiments of the Chinese socialist judicial democracy. But there are several flaws in the current juror system that need urgent attention. The low percentage of regular Chinese citizens participating in the jury is one such problem.Currently, among a total of 87,000 jurors, the majority are members of governmental or CPC institutions. In 2013, the Supreme Court launched a "doubling project," aiming to increase juror numbers to about 200,000 in two or three years. It put special emphasis on the representativeness and scope of people's jurors. Also on the need to select people of different genders, ages, ethnic and social groups, so as to guarantee that no less than two thirds of new jurors are members of the general public.
In February 2009, the First Criminal Division of Henan Province's Higher People's Court took the lead in inviting ordinary people to constitute a "people's jury" in a widely-concerned public hearing of the second instance involving a death penalty trial. The people's jury participated in the trial and gave opinions on judgment for the reference of the collegiate bench, which aroused strong feedback in the country. In 2010, the court promoted the people's jury system in the province. This further guaranteed people's right to express opinions and supervise while ensuring their right to participate.
"Increasing the number of ordinary people in a jury allows people to become familiar with judicial procedures," said Cao. "People usually trust those they understand and can relate to. If they are familiar with the actions of the judicial office, they are more likely to trust the judicial system. The move to include a cross section of society in juries will increase the credibility of the legal system," Cao added.
