The 11th session of the Standing Committee of the 10th
National People’s Congress, which opened on August 23, is expected
to approve the Draft Decision on the Perfection of the People’s
Assessors System this Saturday. A blueprint for selecting assessors
for specific cases will soon be drawn up.
According to current Chinese law, the people’s courts select a
certain number of people’s assessors from groups of citizens
recommended by work units and organizations. The people’s assessors
serve the same function as juries in some Western courts: they
review evidence, hear testimony and arguments of counsel, and share
equal rights with the judges.
Shen Deyong, vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, said
that the existing regulations give only a vague description of the
people’s assessors, lacking specific requirements for their
qualifications and procedures for their selection. According to
incomplete statistics from 26 district courts, China has a total of
23,918 people’s assessors. “But in many places, the system exists
only in form,” Shen said. “Some local courts even omit the process
of having people’s assessors for cases. To meet the needs of the
new situation, there must be a law that improves the people’s jury
system.”
In the revised draft of the decision, the nature of people’s
assessors and their position and responsibilities in judging cases
are all clearly defined. It also requires that the important
criminal, civil and administrative cases that have a substantial
impact on society be heard by a collegiate bench of judges and
people’s assessors, and the assessors must account for at least
one-third of the bench.
Investigations show that among the current people’s assessors,
41.5 percent are assigned by the people’s courts; 23.7 percent are
recommended by various organizations; and very few are elected, as
is allowed by the law. The draft decision requires that the
Standing Committee of the People’s Congress assign people’s
assessors for a term of five years.
A people’s assessor should have at least a community college
education.
Hu Kangsheng, vice chairman of the Law Committee of the National
People’s Congress, believes that the draft decision is practical
and useful. At group discussions held on August 24, opinions were
positive and it seems likely that it will be passed on August
28.
(China.org.cn by Shang Rongguang, August 27, 2004)