A circuit court under the people's court of Yunyang county in Chongqing Photo: IC

Grassroots courts in China have sometimes been subject to the whims of local officials, keener on protecting their own interests than seeing justice done. In early December, the Chinese government established a pilot circuit court program, hoping that a system of traveling judges would result in less pressure from local leaders.

The program was approved by the seventh meeting of the Leading Group for Overall Reform, chaired by President Xi Jinping, on December 2. It was in line with a key document released to elaborate the rule of law after the fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in October.

Although details of the pilot program have not yet been revealed, law experts and the public have applauded the idea and are eager to see judges given more independence.

Upcoming pilot program 

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) will set up circuit courts for major administrative, civil and commercial cases involving different administrative regions, which can facilitate the public welfare lawsuits from local communities and help solve conflicts at the local level, according to a statement by the Leading Group for Overall Reform.

Currently, under China's judicial system, cases reach a final verdict after trials under at least two different levels of courts. Legal experts reached by the Global Times has noted that the circuit courts will push forward changes in China's judiciary but also expressed concerns over whether verdicts from the court will be able to be appealed.

Hu Yunteng, a member of the judicial committee of the SPC, said that the circuit court will have the same level of jurisdiction authority as SPC, so the verdicts of the circuit court will be final judgments, People's Daily reported.

Hu also said that the SPC deals with more than 10,000 cases annually which means pressure on judges. "The establishment of circuit courts will give more time for the SPC to research and announce judicial interpretations while alleviating the pressure of handling petitions in Beijing," Hu said.

It is the first time China's top court has set up circuit court system, Bi Yuqian, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, said, though local courts have often deployed circuit judges to local communities or rural areas.

Hu did not reveal details of the circuit court but indicated that the judges would be selected from tribunals of the SPC.

Wang Gongyi, former director of a research institute under the Ministry of Justice, said that the SPC might set up six circuit courts in East China, Central China, South China, North China, Northwest and Southwest China, according to West China City Daily.

Bi told the Global Times that the SPC circuit courts may focus on cross-regional cases or complicated administrative cases, as these are more subject to interference from local officials.

'Sensitive' cases

The main purpose for the SPC establishing circuit courts is to avoid regional authorities' interference, Hu said.

As far back as the CPC's 16th National Congress in 2002, the Party has already mentioned courts need to improve their work by getting rid of local authorities interference.

Li Daoming, a deputy to the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) and then head of the Henan Provincial High People's Court, proposed to the NPC in 2003 that the SPC should set up circuit courts. He noted that judgments in different regions were not unified and some local governments have ignored the courts judgments.

China's judicial system, which includes four levels of courts and two levels of procuratorates (roughly equivalent to prosecutors in other systems), vary wildly in practice because of imbalanced economic and regional development. Moreover, the budget and personnel of the courts are in the hands of local authorities, which may influence judicial independence.   

Wang Cailiang, a Beijing lawyer who frequently represents people suing the government, told the Global Times that cases filed against governments are very difficult to get accepted by courts because they did not want to cause trouble to the authorities who controlled their budgets and other administrative affairs.

"Some of my clients have to wait years before finally get their cases accepted because some officials sent notes to warn judges," Wang said. 

A report by the Beijing Municipal People's Congress' legislative commission showed that only 30 percent of the cases filed against government agencies were accepted by Beijing courts in the past three years, the Xinhua News Agency reported in November. Government authorities only lost 10 percent of such cases, according to the report.

A Beijing judge, surnamed Li, told the Global Times that judges, procurators and police even need to privately discuss the cases and verdicts of some "sensitive" cases before trials.

Experts have noted that the difficulties in filing a case against government have caused huge strain on the petition system in China and damaged judicial credibility.

Wang Gongyi told the West China City Daily that the SPC circuit courts may also act as inspectors to supervise local judicial organs.

Bi pointed out that SPC circuit courts could give unified verdicts and avoid local interference as they would not be funded by local governments and the judges may not be selected in local courts.

He added that SPC circuit courts would create a system that separated judicial organs from administration regions. "Provincial courts might follow the SPC's example to set up circuit courts with jurisdiction across different regions in the area," Wang said.

According to the document of the CPC meeting in October, the country will explore establishing courts and procuratorates with jurisdictions spanning across different administrative regions.

New courts will be set up in Beijing and Shanghai to deal with important civil, administrative and criminal cases involving parties spanning different administrative regions. A new intermediate court is expected to be established in December, People's Daily reported.

Bi said that the establishment of SPC circuit courts is a progress in legal reform in China but it should only be a beginning.

"The main way to solve China's judicial system problems is to establish an independent personnel and budget system," Bi added. 


Newspaper headline: Another level of law