At the highest level is the Supreme People's Court (SPC) in Beijing, the premier appellate forum of the land and court of last resort, which supervises the administration of justice by all subordinate "local" and "special" people's courts. It also sets up six circuit courts seat outside of the state capital, which acts in the same capacity, to hear cross-provincial cases within respective jurisdiction.[citation needed]
Local people's courts—the courts of the first instance—handle criminal and civil cases. These people's courts make up the remaining three levels of the court system and consist of "high people's courts" at the level of the provinces, autonomous regions, and special municipalities; "intermediate people's courts" at the level of prefectures, autonomous prefectures, and municipalities; and "primary people's courts" at the level of autonomous counties, towns, and municipal districts.[citation needed]
The court system is paralleled by a hierarchy of prosecuting offices called people's procuratorates, the highest being the Supreme People's Procuratorate.[citation needed]
Local departments of justice can revoke the license of lawyers, this power is used to target lawyers who challenge the authority of the state, particularly human rights lawyers.[4]
Legal procedure
The Supreme Court is responsible for establishing and monitoring legal procedures in adherence to the laws and orders made by the legislative organs.[citation needed]
Following civil law traditions, the courts do not establish legally-binding precedent. The Supreme Court has the right to publish legal explanations of laws which are legally-binding but the right to interpret the constitution is reserved by the legislative organs.[citation needed] A verdict made by an inferior court can be challenged in its superior court, up to the Supreme Court, there are four levels of courts in total. A superior court can also designate any of its inferior courts to hear an appeal rather than do so itself.[citation needed]
Court proceedings in China are generally livestreamed, with exceptions including where classified information is discussed or where juveniles testify.[5]:125
Civil
Besides the court system, it is also encouraged to resolve civil conflicts through a state-sponsored and -regulated mediation and arbitration system. After the first hearing of a civil case, the court is required by law to ask both parties if they are willing to resolve their conflict through mediation. If agreed, the court should assign a mediator and oversee the process. If both parties reach an agreement, it will be legally binding after the agreement is reviewed and documented by a judge of the court.[citation needed]
The enforceability of a civil verdict has long been an issue of some controversy, damaging the people's trust in the legal system. To address the problem of civil law enforceability, the Supreme People's Court has established a system to forbid debtors who fail to honor civil verdicts from exorbitant spending, including five-star hotels, air flights, and bullet trains, though there is controversy as to whether this gives the court too much authority.[6]
Courts allow litigants to communicate with it via WeChat, through which the litigant parties can file lawsuits, participate in proceedings, present evidence, and listen to verdicts.[5]:125 As of December 2019, more than 3 million litigants had used WeChat for litigation.[5]:125
Between the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957 and the legal reforms of 1979, the courts—viewed by the leftists as troublesome and unreliable—played only a small role in the judicial system. Most of their functions were handled by other party or government organs. In 1979, however, the National People's Congress began the process of restoring the judicial system. The world was able to see an early example of this reinstituted system in action in the showcase trial of the Gang of Four and six other members of the "Lin-Jiang clique" from November 1980 to January 1981 (see the Four Modernizations). The trial, which was publicized to show that China had restored a legal system that made all citizens equal before the law, actually appeared to many foreign observers to be more a political than a legal exercise. Nevertheless, it was intended to show that China was committed to restoring a judicial system.
The Ministry of Justice, abolished in 1959, was re-established under the 1979 legal reforms to administer the newly restored judicial system. With the support of local judicial departments and bureaus, the ministry was charged with supervising personnel management, training, and funding for the courts and associated organizations and was given responsibility for overseeing legal research and exchanges with foreign judicial bodies.
The 1980 Organic Law of the People's Courts (revised in 1983) and the 1982 State Constitution established four levels of courts in the general administrative structure. Judges are elected or appointed by people's congresses at the corresponding levels to serve a maximum of two five-year terms. Most trials are administered by a collegial bench made up of one to three judges and three to five assessors. Assessors, according to the State Constitution, are elected by local residents or people's congresses from among citizens over twenty-three years of age with political rights or are appointed by the court for their expertise. Trials are conducted by the inquisitorial system, in which both judges and assessors play an active part in the questioning of all witnesses. This contrasts with the adversarial system, in which the judge is meant to be an impartial referee between two contending attorneys. After the judge and assessors rule on a case, they pass sentence. An aggrieved party can appeal to the next higher court.
The Organic Law of the People's Courts requires that adjudication committees be established for courts at every level. The committees usually are made up of the president, vice presidents, chief judges, and associate chief judges of the court, who are appointed and removed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding level. The adjudication committees are charged with reviewing major cases to find errors in determination of facts or application of law and to determine if a chief judge should withdraw from a case. If a case is submitted to the adjudication committee, the court is bound by its decision. The Supreme People's Court stands at the apex of the judicial structure. Located in Beijing, it has jurisdiction over all lower and special courts, for which it serves as the ultimate appellate court. It is directly responsible to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which elects the court president.
Military courts make up the largest group of special courts and try all treason and espionage cases. Although they are independent of civilian courts and directly subordinate to the Ministry of National Defense, military court decisions are reviewed by the Supreme People's Court. Special military courts were first established in 1954 to protect the special interests of all commanders, political commissars, and soldiers, but they ceased to function during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). Military courts and procuratorates were reinstituted in October 1978, and open military trials resumed in December of that year.
In April 1986, at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress, the General Principles of the Civil Code was approved as "one of China's basic laws." Consisting of more than 150 articles, the code was intended to regulate China's internal and external economic relations to establish a stable base conducive to trade and attractive to foreign investors. Many of its provisions define the legal status of economic entities and the property rights they exercise. The code clearly stipulated that private ownership of the means of production is protected by law and may not be seized or interfered with by any person or organization. It also recognizes partnerships and wholly foreign-owned or joint-venture enterprises.
In March 2011, National People's Congress enacted a revised Criminal Procedure Law which prohibited self-incrimination, allowed for the suppression of illegally obtained evidence, and ensured prompt trials for suspects. The State Council's 2012 white paper on judicial reform, unlike previous papers, does not mention the subordination of the judicial system to "the leadership of" the CCP, and replaces mentions of the Party in other places with "China".[7][bettersourceneeded]
In 2013, the SPC issued Opinions Concerning Sentencing Guidelines for Frequently Committed Offences, which aimed to achieve consistency in sentencing for similar offenses. Therefore, China divided the guidelines into four sections: the guiding principles of sentencing, basic sentence methodology, applications of common mitigating and aggravating factors, and sentences for common offences.[8] These guidelines introduced a methodology for calculating sentences, involving three components: a sentencing starting point, a baseline sentence, and a final sentence. The starting point was determined based on the primary constituent facts of a crime, while the baseline sentence considered secondary facts related to the offense. A final sentence was derived from an adjusted baseline sentence, considering various mitigating and aggravating factors. However, these guidelines were only applicable to less serious offenses, leaving serious crimes without specific guidance.[8]
From 2014 to 2017, the judicial system underwent significant reform aimed at curbing judicial favoritism.[9]:212 Among the key reform provisions was recentralizing personnel appointments and fiscal management of basic and intermediate courts, with these decisions now being made by provincial governments.[9]:212
In 2015, China began publishing all court decisions in civil and criminal cases across all tiers of the judiciary.[5]:125 This database, the China Judgment Online database, is the world's largest collection of judicial decisions.[9]:141 Although the Supreme People's Court mandates that all local courts upload their judgments, local court compliance with this mandate varies.[9]:41 In 2021, millions of court verdicts were removed, including all capital punishment verdicts.[10] In 2023, administrative proceedings were also removed.[11]
The Supreme People's Court in 2018 began promoting the Mobile Micro Court app.[9]:207 As of March 2020, over 1.3 million people had used the Mobile Micro Court app and over 437,000 cases had been filed through it.[9]:207
In 2019, the city of Hangzhou established a pilot program artificial intelligence-based Internet Court to adjudicate disputes related to ecommerce and internet-related intellectual property claims.[5]:124 Parties appear before the court via videoconference and AI evaluates the evidence presented and applies relevant legal standards.[5]:124 Following the Hangzhou Internet Court, the Beijing Internet Court and Guangzhou Internet Court were established.[9]:206 In these courts, all aspects of the judicial process from case filing through conclusion are handled online.[9]:206 Major cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Chengdu have established specialized court divisions for cases arising from online disputes.[9]:206
The Chinese government is also promoting the development of a "smart court" system to increase the use of technology such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to streamline proceedings.[9]:206 The Hangzhou Internet Court was the first court in China to accept blockchain evidence to prove the content of a website at a particular point in time, rather than the public notary method traditionally used to do so.[5]:124–125
Law enforcement in China consists of an extensive public security system and a variety of enforcement procedures used to maintain order in the country. Along with the courts and procuratorates, the country's judicial and public security agencies include the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Ministry of State Security (MSS), with their descending hierarchy of departments, bureaus, subbureaus, and stations.
A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single judge could describe that judge as "their tribunal". Many governmental bodies are titled "tribunals" to emphasize that they are not courts of normal jurisdiction. For instance, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was a body specially constituted under international law; in Great Britain, employment tribunals are bodies set up to hear specific employment disputes.
The Courts of Denmark is the ordinary court system of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Courts of Denmark as an organizational entity was created with the Police and Judiciary Reform Act taking effect 1 January 2007 which also significantly reformed the court system e.g. by removing original jurisdiction from the High Courts and by introducing a new jury system.
The judicial system of Ukraine is outlined in the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine. Before this there was no notion of judicial review nor any Supreme court since 1991's Ukrainian independence when it started being slowly restructured.
The Law of the People's Republic of China, officially referred to as the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, is the legal regime of China, with the separate legal traditions and systems of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national importance. The court lacks judicial independence and has no power beyond what is granted to it by the National People's Congress (NPC).
The origin of the current law of the People's Republic of China can be traced back to the period of the early 1930s, during the establishment of the Chinese Soviet Republic. In 1931 the first supreme court was established. Though the contemporary legal system and laws have no direct links to traditional Chinese law, their impact and influence of historical norms still exist.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China is the highest national agency responsible for legal prosecution and prosecutorial investigation in China. The SPP reports to the National People's Congress (NPC).
The judicial system of Vietnam is governed under the Constitution of Vietnam, the Law on the Organization of People's Courts (2014), and the Law on the Organization of People's Procuracies (2014). Since Vietnam is a one-party socialist republic, the judiciary falls under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and judges and procurators are all members of the Party. The judiciary is nominally accountable to the National Assembly of Vietnam, which is the highest institution of government power in the country.
The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the Court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdiction over all cases except those cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Korea. It consists of fourteen Justices, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea. The Supreme Court is at the top of the hierarchy of all ordinary courts in South Korea, and traditionally represented the conventional judiciary of South Korea. The Supreme Court has equivalent status as one of the two highest courts in South Korea. The other is the Constitutional Court of Korea.
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, and highcourt of appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are binding on all other courts in a nation and are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts. A Supreme Court can also, in certain circumstances, act as a court of original jurisdiction, however, this is typically limited to constitutional law.
The Military Court of the People's Liberation Army is the highest level military court of the Chinese armed forces. It is a Deputy Theater grade (副战区级) unit organized under dual leadership: administratively under the direct supervision of the Political and Legal Commission of the Central Military Commission, and operationally as a Specialized People's Court under the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court
Xiao Yang was a Chinese judge and politician. He served as minister of Justice from 1993 to 1998 and President of the Supreme People's Court from 1998 to 2008. His tenure as China's Chief Justice was marked by the implementation of major reforms. A key reform was his restoration of the Supreme Court's right of final review for capital punishment cases, which resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of executions in China after 2006. Another of his reforms was to professionalize the rank of judges by requiring most new judges to pass the National Judicial Examination. He also advocated judicial independence in the country, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
In some jurisdictions, an assessor is a judge's or magistrate's assistant. This is the historical meaning of this word.
The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC), commonly referred to as Zhongyang Zhengfawei in Chinese, is the organization under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responsible for "political and legal affairs". Based on the principles of Leninism and democratic centralism, the organization acts as the overseer and coordinator of all legal enforcement authorities, including the Ministries of State Security, Public Security and Justice, as well as the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate. All provincial, municipal, county and autonomous region CCP committees have their own political and legal affairs commissions.
The Judiciary of Indonesia constitutionally consists of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, and the lesser court system under the Supreme Court. These lesser courts are categorically subdivided into the public courts, religious courts, state administrative courts, and military courts.
The judicial system of Syria is a synthesis of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws. The civil, commercial and criminal codes are primarily based on the French legal practices. Promulgated in 1949, those laws have special provisions sanctioned to limit application of customary law among beduin and religious minorities. The Islamic religious courts continue to function in some parts of the country, but their jurisdiction is limited to issues of personal status, such as marriage, divorce, paternity, custody of children, and inheritance. Nonetheless, in 1955 a personal code pertaining to many aspects of personal status was developed. This law modified and modernized sharia by improving the status of women and clarifying the laws of inheritance.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania is the highest court of Albania and is the final court of appeals in the country's judicial system. It is composed of seventeen judges: the Chief Justice and sixteen Members.
The law of Cyprus is a legal system which applies within the Republic of Cyprus. Although Cypriot law is extensively codified, it is still heavily based on English common law in the sense that the fundamental principle of precedent applies.
The People's Police is the national civilian police force of the People's Republic of China. Police in China have a variety of roles in addition to enforcing the law, they are also responsible for the maintenance of social stability, and in this sense policing in China performs not just a law enforcement function but a political function as well. The majority of national police forces are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
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