Empowered lives Resilient nations The information and designations used and the presentation of the material throughout this publication do not in any way imply the expression of an opinion on the part of the United Nations Development Programme or the United Nations System in China, concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The presentation of the data and information contained in this publication, and the opinions expressed therein, do not necessarily reect the position of the United Nations Development Programme or the United Nations System in China. Published by the United Nations Development Programme © 2014 All rights reserved Annual Report on China’s Judicial Reform 2013 Annual Report on China’s Judicial Reform 2013 Foreword Rule of law and access to justice are essential to human development. The protection of the law protects people from vulnerabilities to abuse, guarantees their access to basic services and expands their abilities to participate in the decisions that shape their lives. In China, one key objective of judicial reform is to build the institutional capacity of the judiciary to ensure justice for all. UNDP has been supporting China’s judicial reform since the first five-year judicial reform programme was launched by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) in the 1999. Throughout the three five-year judicial reform programmes, UNDP has offered policy advice and international expertise to assist the SPC on a number of its judicial reform priorities, such as people’s assessors pilots, open trial, alternative dispute resolution and judicial aid system reform. 2013 was a pivotal year in China for judicial reform with measures adopted to enhance judicial openness and to prevent the miscarriage of justice and with the plan for comprehensive legal and judicial reform that the Third Plenary Session adopted in November 2013. This reports presents and analyses these recent developments in judicial reform in China and reflects on its possible future directions. It highlights pilot initiatives at the level of the court, the procuratorate and the judicial administrative organ, and underlines the importance of the independence of judiciary. The report also analyses key issues for the next stage of China’s judicial reform over the period 2014- 2018 and underlines the crucial value of an overarching roadmap, as well as coordinated efforts by all stakeholders. UNDP is pleased to have supported Professor Xu Xin and his research team in the preparation of this comprehensive review. We hope that the present report and the views it offers will be of interest and use to policy-makers, law professors, international and national experts and all those, who have an interest in judicial reform in China. Christophe Bahuet Country Director UNDP China Contents Introduction...................................................................................1 I. General Reform Measures.........................................................3 i. Enhancing Judicial Independence...........................................................................................3 ii. Abolishing the Practice of Re-education Through Labor.........................................................6 iii.The First Major Revision of the Administrative Litigation Law.................................................8 iv.Further Preventing Miscarriage of Justice Cases...................................................................9 v. Reflection and Reform of Judicial Interpretations.................................................................11 vi.Improving the Juvenile Justice System.................................................................................12 II. Reform Measures in the Court System..................................14 (I) Enhancing Judicial Credibility.................................................................................14 i. Promoting Judicial Transparency..........................................................................................15 ii. Improving Court Ethics..........................................................................................................17 iii.Improving the Relationship between Judge and Lawyer.......................................................18 iv.Strengthening Capacity Building of Judicial Professionals...................................................20 (II) Better Exercising of Trial Power.............................................................................20 i. Advancing the Collegial Trial Panel Reform..........................................................................22 ii. Conducting Pilot Jury System Reform...................................................................................24 iii.Improving Case Evaluation Practice.....................................................................................26 (III) Optimization of Court Function.............................................................................27 i. Improving Guiding Case Mechanism....................................................................................27 ii. Advancing Enforcement Reform...........................................................................................27 iii.Improving State Compensation............................................................................................28 III. Reform Measures of the Procuratorate.................................30 i. Deepening Reform of the Anti-Corruption System.................................................................30 ii. Procurator’s Accountability Pilot Program.............................................................................32 iii.Strengthening Oversight of Illegal Investigation....................................................................34 iv.Strengthening Procuratory Oversight in Civil Litigation.........................................................35 v. Strengthening Procuratory Function in Criminal Appeals......................................................35 vi.Strengthening the Capacity Building of Procurators.............................................................35 vii.Advancing Procuratory Transparency..................................................................................36 IV. Reforms Measures in Judicial Administration.....................37 i. Legal Aid Work Improvement................................................................................................37 ii. Evidence-Based Correction Pilot Projects............................................................................38 iii. Strengthening the Professionalism of Lawyer Management................................................38 Conclusion...................................................................................40 Overall Design of Judicial Reform...............................................................................40 (I) Five Relationships...................................................................................................41 i. Strategic Arrangement of Judicial Reform............................................................................41 ii. Judicial Independence..........................................................................................................41 iii. Judicial Review.....................................................................................................................42 iv. Optimize Judicial Structure of Function and Power..............................................................42 v. Final Resolution by Judicial Decision....................................................................................43 (II) Six Securities and Safeguards...............................................................................43 i. Job Security..........................................................................................................................43 ii. Funding Security...................................................................................................................43 iii. Safeguarding Fairness and Justice.......................................................................................43 iv. Safeguarding Efficiency........................................................................................................44 v. Safeguarding Democracy.....................................................................................................44 vi. Protection of the Disadvantaged...........................................................................................44 (III) Five Tactics...........................................................................................................45 i. Differentiating Challenges....................................................................................................45 ii. De-Politicizing judicial reform...............................................................................................46 iii. Starting with the Court Itself..................................................................................................46 iv. Gathering Momentum...........................................................................................................46 v. Improving the Quality of Legal Professionals........................................................................46 Annual Report on China’s Judicial Reform 2013 Judicial Reform ReportAnnual on China’s Introduction 2013 was