Judicial system 'independent of' Communist Party
China's judicial system was independent from the influence of the Communist Party, a senior Beijing judge said yesterday.
Chen Chunlong, Vice-President of Beijing Higher People's Court, denied the party committees had any role in court proceedings when he addressed concerns about the nation's judicial independence.
'The party committees are only co-ordinators and models to ask people to follow the law closely,' said the judge.
'Party members are only responsible for the spiritual education in a court. For example, they cannot accept lawyers' invitations to go for a big feast. They must be a model in their courts.' Judge Chen, who joined the Beijing court in 1994, stressed that judges were appointed by the Standing Committee of the Municipal National People's Congress, not by party committees.
He emphasised that only the presiding judge and the judicial panel were in a position to decide on a case.
Presiding judges and the panel were expected to work independently, he added.
In January, the amended Criminal Procedural Law came into effect in China. Mainland legal experts have said the amended laws would enhance the protection of individuals' rights and ensure impartiality of judges.
'Since the prosecution and defence have to present evidence in court, we found trial time had become much longer under the new procedures,' Judge Chen said.
To avoid a backlog of cases, Judge Chen said a simplified set of rules had been introduced to deal with basic cases.
He said: 'If a thief admits his wrongdoing and the amount involved is not large, the prosecutor and defence lawyer could choose not to appear in court. Also there would be one judge in charge of the case instead of three.'
