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On The Independence Of The Judiciary And Media Supervision

Posted on:2004-10-28Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y ZhangFull Text:PDF
GTID:2206360122960502Subject:Law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
In democratic and institutional countries in modern world, judicature enjoys independence under media supervision, yet the balance of the independence and supervision has often been the focus of public attention. In China, the principle of judicial independence means that judicial authorities have the independent and exclusive judicial power, the exercise of which has to be precisely and strictly in conformity to the constitution and laws and free from any extra-judicial intervention or influence. The media supervision of judicature is the expression of the public's opinion of and/or comment on the events, phenomena or facts in the judicial field via such media as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, etc., so as to keep them under the supervision of public and maintain public order, equality and justice. In the process of socialist democratic and institutional construction, the relationship between judicature and mass media is not to be evaded.The purpose of judicial independence is for judicial justice, and media supervision, an embodiment of freedom of information for the public, is for social equality. Therefore, in terms of the overall constitutional value, judicial independence and media supervision, on the one hand, have the same goal and considerable conformity. On the other hand, due to their difference in system and practice of administration, news reporting and judicial act inevitably have certain degree of conflict, thus the questions of in what way media supervision interferes with judicial independence or promotes judicial justice and what judicial activities are not to be reported or supervised. The nature of mass media makes its inevitable"intrusion" to judicial power and its operation. In terms of the relationship between judicature and media supervision, however, the former has its duality. On the one hand, as a component of the state power, judicature naturally becomes part of media attention and coverage; on the other hand, judicial independence, to a certain extent, results in the repulsion and exclusion of media attention. The duality of judicature makes its parallelism and compatability with media supervision, while judicial independence brings about certain conflict.The principle of judicial independence and freedom of press in China differ in essence from those in western countries. While the principle of judicial independence in western countries originated from system of separation of powers (into legislative, executive and judicial division), the principle of judicial independence in China is under the centralized control of CCPC, the judicial power is trial and procuratorial, judicial organs including courts and procuratorates. Judicial independence in western sense does not apply to China, since their judicial power is only trial and judicial organs only courts, both independent of administration and legislation. Therefore, the relationship between judicial independence and mass media is not to be generalized simply as judicature should, or should not, be supervised by mass media.Judicial independence and media supervision in China share much common ground, such as the same one ruling party, the same political foundation and value orientation and the same goal. In the process of constructing socialist democracy and law, mass media and judicature are both interdependent and interactive. Although judicialindependence and media supervision in present China have certain conflict, they share more parallelism and compatability. Disputes, if any, over specific matters are only a result of their differing social function and therefore never antagonistic in essence.For a better parallelism between the two, the media needs discipline and the supervision should be done in accordance with law. Besides, on the basis of the full play of press freedom, a good balance of quantity and depth. Only in this way, can the supervision impartial and trustworthy. Judicature should be rational, tolerant and take initiative to the supervision. Rejection and exclusion will only do h...
Keywords/Search Tags:judicial independence, media supervision, interaction
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