On Reform Of Judicial System In Shanghai Since1997

Started by the reform of civil court hearing in the late1980s andformally proposed in the report of the15th Party Congress of the ChineseCommunist Party, the judicial reform of China lifted its grand curtainand keeps improving. Since its opening the commercial port to the outsideworld, Shanghai has been serving as the forefront of both Chinese andwestern culture, melting as well as confronting. Shanghai takes the firstto introduce modern ideas of rule of law to China, and spares no effortin building itself an international center for both finance and shipping.It is well acknowledged that Shanghai has taken an active role inpromoting judicial system reform. As an indispensable part of the wholejudicial system, Shanghai reflects the power and authority of the designby the nation’s top level. On the other hand, Shanghai has long beenserving as the threshold of many reform measures, which derive from thedaily work of the judicial authority and meet the typical need of judicialpractice in Shanghai. After being moisturized and inspected by Shanghai,those innovative measures are gradually recognized by the whole countryand then are promoted by the top legislative and judicial branch on a largescale, leading to the widespread impact on the judicial system reform ofthe whole country.It is an endless journey to reform the judicial system. In order tobuild Shanghai into a city of socialist rule of law, it is necessary toretrospect the history of reform promotion during the past few years andto find out the regular patterns of reform motivation and developmenttrends, while continue to strive to be the experimental field and thepioneer of China’s judicial reform. This paper is wrote to achieve adetailed research on the judicial system reform in Shanghai.Chapter One makes a historical investigation on the reform of the judicial system in Shanghai. In spite of the setbacks, the People’sjudiciary in Shanghai has witnessed a growing trend since itsestablishment, laying the basic pattern of judicial work in Shanghai andcreating a solid foundation for the reform of the judicial system beganin1997, which brought about both successful experiences and painfullessons, provided a positive as well as a negative revelation for Shanghaito carry out the reform of the judicial system.Chapter Two is about the exploratory stage of the reform of thejudicial system in1997-2002. The five years from1997to October the2002,which was the opening of the16th Party Congress, were the exploratoryphase of the reform of the judicial system. Under the guidance of thehighest judicial branch, Shanghai implemented the policy of the centralcommittee carefully, concentrating on the need of development andstability, as well as improving the working, employment and internaloperation mechanism.Chapter Three focuses on the advancing stage of the reform of thejudicial system in the five years since the end of2002to November2007,prior to the opening of the Party’s17th Congress, Which were theadvancing stage of the reform of the judicial system. Shanghai’s reformof the judicial system was progressing steadily within the framework oflaw, while the judiciary internal management mechanism achievedinnovation and judicial standardization and credibility has proceededsignificantly. The implementation of the criminal policy of combiningpunishment with leniency supervision was more and more robust, and theproblem of difficult litigation, difficult execution, extended masses ofdetention as well as the extort confessions by torture have been eased.The political security mechanism has been improved, and the judicial teambuilding and grassroots infrastructure was ameliorated significantly.Chapter Four sets forth the research of the intensifying phase ofShanghai’s judicial system reform in2007-2012, before the18th NationalCongress of the Party. During the five years, the judicial branch ofShanghai spared no effort to meet the growing demand of its people,accurately grasped the criminal policy of combining punishment withleniency, and promoted the reconciliation of community corrections andminor criminal cases actively, as well as strengthening and improving theimplementation of work, established judicial relief system, so as to highlight legal system credibility and judicial humane care. Apart fromthat, it also strengthened the practicing supervision of lawyers,notaries, judicial expertise, and optimized the order of the legalservices market constantly.Chapter Five elaborates the ideological disputes and practiceorientation about the judicial system reform in Shanghai. During theprocess of discovery, promotion and deepening of the reform, some measuresdid trigger wide-spread discussion, questioning and even critical voices.In terms of macro ideas, there were disputes about whether local reformcan deviate from the national reform framework, or, whether local reformshall proceed in the uniformed process. In terms of micro initiatives,groundbreaking measures like "juvenile court" and "case guidance system"led to lasting discussions. It is these discussions, questioning as wellas criticism result in the more prudent judiciary and the much safer andreasonable reform process of the judicial system.Chapter Six is about the comparative research on the judicial systemreform of Shanghai and its brother provinces and regions. Based on thedata, there are some similarities shared by Shanghai and the others. Thesesimilarities reflect not only in the driving force, fundamentalobjectives, and the guiding principles, but also in the overall progress,developing directions and the specific substances. However, compared withother places, the reform in Shanghai preserves it distinguishing featuresin emphasizing innovative exploration, judicial protection of minors,implementation, information construction, as well as borrowing ideas fromforeign practice and political funding. The different characteristics ofthose judicial system reforms and the unlike economic developmentcontribute to the similarities and disparities among Shanghai and otherplaces.Chapter Seven is about the research on the comparative analysis andevaluation of the effectiveness of the reform of the judicial system. Itis evident that the successful implementation of Shanghai is based on theapplication of the point-to-face, easy-to-digest, step-by-step principle,which strictly follows the regular pattern of judiciary and thus avoidthe unnecessary failure and waste of resources. The reform of the judicialsystem work has achieved remarkable results, however,we are still facedwith a lot of difficulties and problems ahead. Chapter Eight proposes several suggestions to deepen the reform ofthe judicial system. Along with economic development and socialtransformation, there has been an unprecedented growth in the demand forjustice. To meet these challenges, the only option for Shanghai is tocontinue to deepen the reform of the judicial system. The strategicobjective of deepening Shanghai’s judicial system reform shall be"advancing the course of justice, and promoting open justice, improvingjudicial credibility and practicing justice for the people." Its functionshall be targeted at promoting the reform of the political system,strengthening social management innovation,so as to create a betterenvironment for the rule of law. There shall be a guiding principlethroughout the deepening process, giving full play to the initiative andexploring innovative measures to adapt to the needs of judicial practicein Shanghai, thus improve effectively not only the judiciary, but alsothe overall quality of the city.