Courting change in China's judiciary(2)

China's first-ever intellectual property court opened in Beijing on Nov 6. The new court is part of a pilot program for reforms to the judicial system, and has a mandate to deal with issues connected with patents and technical design disputes that are beyond the scope of the regular court system in China.(Photo: China Daily/Wang Guibin)

Since 2013, his employer, Shanghai Hengtai Law Offices, has engaged a small number of former junior judges who have abandoned court work for fear they will be penalized financially if they are "downgraded" to the role of legal assistant.

"They already find it hard to shoulder the cost of living in a big city, and the large reduction in the number of cases they will hear every year will make things even harder. After all, they need to earn enough to live," said Ruan, who used to work in a local court, referring to a change in the system that will see judges and legal assistants paid on the basis of their annual volume of work.

Although he has concerns about some of the proposed changes, Ruan said he's been delighted to witness a change in the attitudes of the courts, police and prosecutors toward lawyers over the past two years.

"In some trials, the judges and prosecutors interrupted me frequently when I was defending my client, and my applications to read case documents were also ignored," he said.

Guo Jie, a judge at a court in Sanming, Fujian province, said the reforms will give judges greater independence because they will no longer be required to report to court presidents, who review cases and advise on verdicts.

Although Guo's court is not involved in the pilot program, she said the reforms would result in sensible changes, especially by reducing the opportunity for senior judicial figures and local governments to influence proceedings and outcomes.

"Some of our departments have examined the reform that allows judges to give independent verdicts, and that will soon be extended across the entire court," she said.

One reform that's already been implement nationwide is that all verdicts and the reasoning behind them must be available online. That's resulted in judges providing extended explanations of their judgments, according to Guo.

"To ensure my verdicts are accurate and easily intelligible, I read them three times before I publish them on the website," she added.

Solving problems

According to Jiang, the process of reform has inevitably thrown up a number of problems that may affect efficiency, such as a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of legal assistants.

"Some people have said the assistants will be responsible for conducting research and dealing with people who want to appeal earlier judgments, but no specific role has been stated in the reforms," she said.

Another problem is that the number of cases handled by each court changes from year to year, which means the allocation of judges should be flexible rather than a fixed percentage, she added, pointing out that from 2011 to 2013, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court heard an average 4,500 cases annually, but last year the number soared to 12,000.

"The proposed allocation of judges might not meet the rising demand, so it will be necessary to adjust the number regularly," she said.

A judge in Beijing, who preferred not to be named, said that under the reforms extra-judicial work, such as dealing with petitioners, should no longer be the responsibility of judges, but the lack of clarity means that still isn't the case.

He said he was disappointed when the Supreme People's Court, China's top legal body, issued an updated guideline on reform on Feb 26, because the criteria under which judges will be selected is still unclear.

Under the amended guideline, the Supreme People's Court said the aim of the reforms is to establish a system of trial firmly rooted in Chinese culture by 2018. However, Tian He, a legal researcher at the Institute of Law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the pilot program, which has no specified time limit, should continue for as long as it takes to garner sufficient information. The reforms will only be implemented effectively and gain general acceptance if problems are identified and rectified quickly, she added.

"As we push through these reforms, we should listen to the opinions of legal insiders, especially those in the grassroots legal bodies. Reform always damages somebody's interests, but the key is to ensure that it benefits as many people as possible."