On The Reforming And Improving For The Domestic System Of Judicial Committee

Judicial committee system is a Chinese characteristic judiciary with the task of summarizing the trial experience, discussing the important or difficult cases and other problems related to trial. The system, which had played a positive role in enhancing the quality of dealing cases and maintaining the judicial justice, has many conflicts with modern judicial ideas in practice as the development of China's socialist market economy and the construction of democracy and legal system. Thus reforming and improving the current judicial committee system has been the requirement of deepening the reform in trial mode.In part 1, the history and present situation of judicial committee system are studied.The history of judicial committee system: China's judicial committee system is germinated during the period of new democracy——as early as Chinese soviet republic period, organizations like the judicial committees were founded in the base areas. But both in its function and operation, the judicial committee in this period is different from the modern one. However, it has functioned positively in that special historical period. Since the founding of the new China, the judicial committee has been serving as a trial organization in the court. As the highest trial organization, its status and function are established, which has been solidified and developed in the initial stage of the new China. However, the developing of the judicial committee system is hindered in the later Cultural Revolution. The judicial committee system, which follows the previous one, is restored after the third plenum of the eleventh central committee of the CPC. Its legal status is validated. However has been oppugned nowadays, the judicial committee system used to be suitable to China's special situation. Though influenced by the law of U.S.S.R. and the continent law system, the system took Chinese traditional concepts and historical background into consideration.The present situation of the judicial committee system: if takes it into objective evaluation, the system also plays a positive role. It is the concrete organization form of the people's court running under the guidance of the Party. In the initial stage of socialism, it meets the requirements for the trial of the people's court. It had played an important role in unifying the judicial scale, resisting local administrative interference and protecting the judges while preventing judicial corruption as well as solving the problems caused by incapable judges and enhancing the quality of cognizance of case. Some essential contradictories between the judicial committee system and modern judicial ideas have been raised in the process of judicial system reform. First of all, the judicial committee discussion runs against the basic principle of litigation. For example, it violates the obviation system, litigation efficiency principle, principle of direct hearing and open trial principle. Second, examining it from legislation perspective, the judicial committee system is lack in programmed judicial restrains. The range of the case under discussion is comparatively abstract and many cases that not in the discussion range are involved. Third, the judicial committee members are from the similar field and do not have a high level in law. Finally, the functional role of the judicial committee has low prominence. The disadvantages mentioned above hinder the system from playing a more important role in trial.In Part 2, the problems existing in judicial committee system are raised.China's legal system is distempered. Many activities have no legal reference but finalized under the Party's policies. How to understand the current legislation idea in dealing a certain case is a problem, but the judicial committee can solve this problem. However, since China has entered the market economy era, the basis for the existence of judicial committee is removed. Therefore, the existence of judicial committee is questioned and challenged. Modern judicial idea is the basis of judicial system reforming. The stability of the legal system and the authority of judicial system can only be maintained on a mature judicial idea. However, the judicial committee system and the current judicial idea have the following contradictories: taking judicial justice into consideration, the judicial committee system has shortcomings in designs to protect both substantive justice and procedural justice; from the perspective of judicial independence, essential conflict lies in the coexistence of judicial committee and the judge; because there's no clear statement on the operation of judicial committee, in other words, no systematization and standardization on it, the judicial efficiency is difficult to carry out.Since the legal system is distempered, the exterior conditions for judges to be independent have not formed, the enhancing of the capability of the judges cannot be fulfilled in a short time and the traditional law culture and conception is still influential, the judicial committee has its reason to exist. At present, the judicial committee system can only be maintained, and reforms should be done to make it adjusts the development of judicial idea and realizes the scientific organization, rationalization of the disposition of power and function and the standardization of working procedure of the judicial committee and to further play its functional role.In part 3, the concrete conceive on the reform and improvement of the judicial committee system is expatiated.The principles of adapting the judicial system reforming initiatively, legalization and standardization and the combination of the general and the specific should be applied in the reforming of judicial committee. For detailed measurements: 1. Relating regulation should be perfected in legislation——the regulation concerning judicial committee should be added in related laws. Clear regulation should be made on the judicial committee's members, working procedure, attribute and functions. 2. The committee's responsibility should be regulated. The range of material, knotty and complex cases should be stated to exert its trial function at most. 3. The organization of judicial committee should be optimized and regulations on the qualification of the committee members should be stated clearly. A standing organization should be established within the court and consultation institutions may be set at certain level courts. 4. The operation of judicial committee should be improved. The operating procedure of registration stage, reporting stage, discussing stage and decision stage should be specialized and standardized. 5. Related regulation, such as prejudication system, obviation system, all collegiate benches involved system and review system as well as the misjudged case responsibility investigation system should be made in the operation of judicial committee. 6. The judicial committee's function on summarizing the trial experience should be strengthened——by all kinds of measures to shifting the judicial committee's actual function from case discussion to discussing the important, difficult and complex cases and other problems related to trials. The judicial committee's function can be realized only by applying the above measures through maximizing the benefits and minimizing the loss in judicial practice.