A Survey Of The Institutional History Of The People's Jury System In The Revolutionary Base Area

Trial by jury is a much representative system of citizen participation in the judicial powers of modern countries governed by the rule of law.In the modern sense,it originated in England,flourished in North America and completed its transformation into the assessor system in Europe.This system,which has gone through a process of rise,fall and revival,is an invaluable asset of the rule of law that human beings have acquired through long history.Beginning with the Criminal and Civil Procedure drafted in 1906 of Qing Dynasty,the people's jury system was gradually established during the revolutionary base period,and further solidified and abolished both twice in the constitutions after the founding of New China.Now it continues to be a hot topic of reforms in China's judicial field.The people's jury appeared in some border areas during the revolutionary base period,is the prototype of the contemporary people's jury system,making a subtle impact both in theory and practice.Many of its problems were reflected at the time of its formation,and learning the contexts of the system and explore the trajectory of how it worked,will be of great value for us to further improve the contemporary people's jury system in China today.This paper adopts the modern transformation of China's legal system as the background,takes the revolutionary base period as the time node.It is difficult to ascertain when the word “people” was first added in front of the jury.However,the phrases “people's jury” and “people's public trial” already appeared in the legislation of some border areas during the revolutionary base period,together with the emerging of “people's participation” in justice.Starting from the construction of the rule of law and the birth of the people's jury system at various stages of the revolutionary base period,and combining with relevant legislative documents,the operation of jurors during this period is examined,including their selection,main powers,behaviors in specific cases,etc.,as well as the establishment and continuous improvement of the system.On this basis,from both political and judicial perspectives,the roles and inevitable limitations of people's jury in the revolutionary base period and its significance to contemporary justice are explored as well.