The Trial Committee System Research

Judicial committee system stipulated in law and peculiar in China is an importantpart of judicial system with Chinese characteristics. Since its establishment halfcentury ago, judicial committee system has played a significant role. But as theestablishment of market economy and the development of democracy and rule of law,the conflicts between judicial committee system and rule of law are emerging with avariety of practical issues. Therefore, Chinese academia and even some practitionersargue that it’s time to abolish it. Retain it or not? Reform of the judicial committeesystem is touched on in The Third Five-Year Reform Outline for the People’s Courts(2009-2013). And it is also an important issue in the new round central judicialsystem reform. But how should we do next with judicial committee system? Given thequestions presented above, this thesis will research on the judicial committee systemdeeply and systematically striving to achieve two goals: firstly correcting somemisunderstandings, which will benefit the theoretical research on judicial committeesystem; and secondly putting forward practical advice on reform for the applicationand development of judicial committee system.On the basis of historical materialism and dialectics, methods of historicalanalysis, empirical and comparative study are employed synthetically in this thesis. Itpays much attention to statutes, judicial interpretations and judicial practice. Withfull-scale and accurate introductions, reasonable analysis, objective evaluations andpractical suggestions, this thesis aims to give author’s individual point of view on thereform of judicial committee system.As a whole, the tracking path of this thesis can be summarized in five words:history, concept, situation, problems and solutions. In details, firstly, this thesis tries tomake clear the development of judicial committee system by historical analysis. Then,the system’s current situation is introduced from four respects of attribute, structure,functions and working rules. Thirdly, the thesis examines the existing problems ofjudicial committee system. Fourthly, after a discussion on whether the system shouldbe retained or not, the thesis argues that it should be kept. With the conclusion, thethesis finally gives suggestions for the system’s reform and predicts its future.In addition to introduction and conclusion, the body of this thesis consists of five parts.Introduction explains the meanings of the selected subject, the existing academicachievements in this field, the research methods and the structure of the thesis.The first part is a historical analysis on judicial committee system, mainly abouthistorical evolution and its origin. Historical evolution is illustrated in two differenteras, before and after the founding of new China. The motivations of its birth areanalyzed from four aspects, including Chinese judicial tradition, the requirements ofpolitical system, judicial practice demands and the influence of foreign judicialpractice.The second part introduces the contents of judicial committee system from itsattribute, structure, functions and working rules. As for its attribute, four controversialviews are summarized and analyzed with the conclusion that judicial committee is thesupreme level tribunal within the people’s court. Structure of the judicial committee isexamined from its establishment, members and special committees. As to thefunctions, this thesis makes a detailed description of its primary functions of summingup experiences in judicial practices, discussing the difficult, complicated or importantcases and making decision on significant judicial issues. Working rules includestipulations on initiating procedure, deliberating procedure and joining procedure.The third part studies on the operation of judicial committee system from threeaspects of structure, functions and working rules. Structurally, there exist suchproblems as imperfect legal provisions, lack of diversity and expertise of members,and defectiveness of institutional establishment. As for functions, the scope of casesthat should be discussed by judicial committee is not clear and the balance has notbeen achieved among the committee’s different functions. Regarding the workingrules, there are no explicit legal provisions for judicial committee system and rules forinitiating procedures. Discussion on cases is held in the form of meetings anddeliberation rules are not clear. Procedures and rules for voting are not provided andsupervision and safeguard measures run out of date.The fourth part tries to find out the answer about whether the judicial committeesystem should be abolished or not. There are three views regarding the future ofjudicial committee system. One view argues that China should keep judicialcommittee system, because it is based on China’s social reality and contributes tofulfill the leadership of the Party. What’s more, collective administration of cases is a good way to achieve judicial fairness. In addition, by playing legal function, judicialcommittee will direct judicial practice better. The opposite view holds that judicialcommittee system, which is the result of traditional culture, has lost its foundationalready. Its functions can’t be performed fully, which would block the improvement ofjudicial competency. Besides, this system is contrary to procedural principles anddamages judicial fairness. There is also another view that advocates reforming judicialcommittee system. It argues this system is a historical choice and should be retained,but reform on it is inevitable due to the issues the practice is confronting with.Considering the three views above, the thesis holds that judicial committee systemshould be kept because of its special structure, functions to be performed, conformingto judicial principles and the tide of judicial reforms. But it ought to be reformed.The fifth part provides the advice on how to improve the judicial committeesystem from the aspects of structure, functions and working rules. To solve theproblems with structure, it is necessary to furnish the relevant law, to diversify thememberships, and to strengthen its expertise. With regard to working rules, the thesissuggests that relevant law should be made, how to initiate the judicial committeeprocedure should be regulated, meeting discussion and panel discussion forms shouldbe both adopted, deliberation rules should be furnished, voting rules should bestipulated, and supervision or safeguard measures should be strengthened.In conclusion, this thesis sketches the future of judicial committee system. Itexpects that the function of judicial committee will be switched from single casedecision to issue of typical cases and judicial management.Although in the long run, judicial committee system will be abolished, it isreasonable to keep it at present. Our wise choice is to reform and improve it.Therefore, this thesis provides some practical and effective measures on how toreform judicial committee system and lead it to playing its role in judicial reform overthis transition stage.The thesis strives to contribute in the following four aspects,(1) constructing atheoretical framework for the research on judicial committee system;(2) employingdifferent research methods synthetically, such as historical analysis, empirical studyand comparative study;(3) advancing such original thoughts as judicial committee isnot an administrative organization; legal issues and factual issues should be separatedand only legal issues should be discussed by judicial committee; while drafting judicial interpretations, necessity and practicability should be both valued;(4) puttingforward advice on how to reform judicial committee system so that it could functionbetter.