FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2005
CONTACT: Cara Santos Pianesi, csantos@CarnegieEndowment.org, 202/939-2211
As China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) readies its second five-year reform plan as well as an amendment to the Organic Law of People’s Courts, the Carnegie Endowment’s Veron Hung draws lessons from interviews with Chinese officials, judges, professors, and lawyers as well as a survey of Shanghai residents. In Judicial Reform in China: Lessons from Shanghai, Hung aims to determine the real pace of change and apply lessons learned to the rest of the country. Access Judicial Reform in China at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=16784&prog=zch.
Hung used administrative cases— dubbed “citizens suing officials” cases—as a barometer to measure judicial fairness. She found that administrative litigation in Shanghai is hampered by interference from government officials and Chinese Communist Party members, influence within the court system, and judicial corruption. Nevertheless, Hung found that these problems occur less in Shanghai than in the rest of China, due to the city’s better training, clearer rules, and stricter discipline.
Still, China (Shanghai included) needs profound institutional reform to stop the control exercised by local governments and party organizations over its courts. The SPC’s second five-year reform plan will determine whether this fundamental reform will occur. In the interim, Hung offers three recommendations to tackle interference, influence and judicial corruption:
- China should step up its efforts in improving legislation as well as training judges, officials and party members at the basic level.
- China should abolish the current system of accountability for erroneous cases. The intent of accountability to improve the quality of judgments is good, but experience shows that the system is easily manipulated and improperly used to discipline judges.
- China should strengthen citizens’ access to the justice system. Legal aid for administrative litigation is limited and lawyers are reluctant to take up these cases, fearing retaliation.
Veron Hung is an associate in the China Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is admitted as a barrister in England, Wales, and Hong Kong, and is a member of the New York and D.C. Bars. Hung has worked in private practice and academia, and as a consultant for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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