China's supreme court branches out to ease legal actions

China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) opened its first branch in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Wednesday to save citizens time and money for traveling to Beijing.

The SPC's First Circuit Court, inaugurated in Shenzhen, southern Guangdong Province, will primarily handle major administrative, civil and commercial cases, which are filed from Guangdong and Hainan province as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and should have been heard by judges of the SPC in Beijing.

"The circuit court will save people the time and resources it takes to travel the long distance to Beijing for court cases," said Kong Xiangjun, deputy president of the circuit court. Shenzhen is about 2,000 km away from Beijing, more than three hours by air.

Judges from the circuit court will travel across three provincial divisions to hear cases so that citizens in remote areas do not need to go to Shenzhen, Kong said.

"Setting the first circuit court in Shenzhen is out of the consideration that the advanced economic development in the Pearl River Delta region prompts a large number of cases and a greater demand for judicial trials," said He Xiaorong, office director of the SPC judicial reform leadership group.

The SPC's Second Circuit Court will be set up in Shenyang, capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, covering the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, according to a document issued by the SPC on Wednesday.

According to the SPC, a total of 18 presiding judges selected for these two circuit courts average 46.5 in age, with more than 15 years judicial experience and at least a master degree. The line-up will be replaced with new judges every two years.

Both courts will start processing cases on Sunday.

The move is part of the legal reforms adopted at the fourth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in late October, 2014.

The SPC said they will help the public file cases in local communities and get their disputes solved more quickly and locally. They will also free up the SPC headquarters to concentrate on judicial policies and trying more complex cases that "have profound significance in unifying the application of law."

The circuit courts are adjudicatory organs designated by the SPC and their judgements, orders and decisions equal those of the SPC, said Wednesday's document.

It stipulated 11 types of cases will be handled by the circuit courts, including nationwide administrative cases of first instance, civil and commercial cases of first instance with significant influence across the country, cases transferred by the higher people's courts due to jurisdiction, administrative, civil and commercial cases and judicial assistance cases concerning Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as other cases the SPC decides to be tried by the circuit courts.

Intellectual property rights, foreign-related commercial, maritime, death penalty review, national compensation, ruling enforcement as well as protests lodged by the SPC will still handled by SPC headquarters.

All the judges working in the circuit courts will be selected and sent by the SPC.

A bi-monthly legislative session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress appointed Liu Guixiang and Hu Yunteng president of the circuit court in Shenzhen and Shenyang respectively in late December, 2014.

The SPC circuit courts are also expected to act as a test ground for the country's judicial reform.

In Chinese courts, three judges often team up to hear a case, including the chief. In most courts, the team members and chief are fixed.

The SPC circuit court will not follow such a setup, allowing judges to form the three-member team. The chief will vary according to different cases, Kong said.

"We want to assign judges to cases according to their different legal training, specialty and experience so that cases can be well handled," he said.

The circuit courts may also set an example for local courts when they try to set up courts cross administrative divisions, said Prof. Hu Jianmiao with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

The jurisdiction of local courts is largely consistent with administrative divisions and the promotion of judges and finance of the courts are strongly affected by local administration, Hu said.

"It is not a rare case that the government interferes in certain lawsuits," he said.

The legal reform plan included a pilot project to set up courts and procuratorates with jurisdictions across different administrative divisions within a province to reduce interference.

The SPC circuit courts' system can be borrowed by these local courts, Hu added.

"The circuit court system is a significant step in the judicial reform, pioneering institutional changes for wider and deeper reform," Ma Huaide, vice president of the China University of Political Science.

Echoing Ma's comments, SPC president Zhou Qiang urged the circuit court to ensure transparent operations, prevent judicial corruption and gather experiences for nationwide judicial reform in the court system.