Contemporary Chinese Judicial Administrative System

Author: Cheng Weirong
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Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: [Excerpt:]
I. Judicial Administrative Planning and Organizational and Personnel Management
Judicial administrative planning management involves, based on the goals and tasks of judicial administrative work in maintaining social stability and promoting economic and cultural development, determining the tasks to be completed and the methods and steps for implementation after conducting research and surveys. It is essential to fully consider relevant environments, such as the political environment within the country, the social environment of reform and opening up, economic and cultural development, and the internal environment of judicial work. Analyze potential situations, decide on countermeasures or strategies, consider the actions the judicial administrative work should take, and identify the main body responsible for completing the judicial administrative plan. As part of the scope of government agency work, judicial administrative planning is somewhat similar to the plans of other government departments. Its content includes:
(1) Goal plans and means plans. Goal plans involve setting goals, preparing budgets, and clarifying completion timelines; means plans involve policies, procedures, and methods related to execution.
(2) Special plans and routine plans. Special plans are used for specific purposes and used only once, while routine plans are designed for general goals and can be reused.
(3) Long-term plans and short-term plans. Long-term plans generally refer to forward-looking, programmatic plans of three years or more, while short-term plans typically refer to quarterly, monthly, or even shorter-term plans. Additionally, there are medium-term plans, which are usually annual plans. Judicial administrative plans are formulated in accordance with the principles of democratic centralism, pragmatism, and meticulous attention to detail. The formulation process includes setting goals, conducting research and surveys, reviewing simulated plans, selecting the optimal solution, and formulating branch plans. Execution of the plan requires preparing necessary conditions, including personnel, financial resources, and materials, while coordinating relationships among various parties, strengthening control during implementation, and paying attention to feedback.
Judicial administrative organs are organizations responsible for managing judicial administrative affairs. In the organizational structure model of judicial administrative organs, the relationship between higher and lower levels of judicial administrative organs and between superior and subordinate units within judicial administrative organs constitutes a vertical structure of leadership and subordination. Among the five hierarchical levels—Ministry of Justice, provincial-level judicial departments (bureaus), municipal-level judicial bureaus, county-level judicial bureaus, and township-level judicial assistants—the higher levels are responsible for formulating overall goals and policies; middle levels are responsible for setting specific goals, implementing policies, and coordinating lower-level activity plans; lower levels are responsible for implementing decisions, organizing and coordinating work within their units; and grassroots levels are responsible for implementing decisions and policies. Judicial administrative organs should seek and establish appropriate vertical structures to reduce intermediate links and improve administrative efficiency. At the same time, judicial administrative organs at the same level, administrative units within the agencies, and non-subordinate administrative agencies constitute the horizontal structure of judicial administrative organs. When establishing horizontal structures, it is essential to adhere to principles such as adapting to local conditions, leveraging professional advantages, ensuring control and vertical communication, and promoting coordination and cost savings.
Judicial administrative personnel management is the management and supervision of staff within judicial administrative organs to ensure the correct implementation of national laws, with the aim of improving work efficiency. The implementing body of judicial administrative personnel management is the personnel department within each level of judicial administrative organs. The main content of personnel management includes position classification, staff appointments, staff transfers, the appointment of professional and technical titles, staff performance evaluations, rewards and penalties, staff training, salaries and benefits, retirement and resignation, personnel statistics, and personnel file management. Judicial administrative personnel management must adhere to the leadership of the Party, the principle of appointing the most capable, suitability for the role, leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and implementing legal management. Judicial administrative personnel management implements the following relevant systems:
Position classification system. This involves classifying all positions according to their business nature, content, level of responsibility, complexity, and the required knowledge, skills, and experience, assigning them to appropriate job grades and levels, such as leadership teams and members, internal units and personnel, professional and technical personnel, and contractual employees.
Appointment system. This adheres to the principle of appointing the most capable and meritorious, strictly following appointment procedures, promoting staff step by step, and implementing the principle of appointing people to tasks suitable for their abilities. Posting avoidance is also implemented. The selection and appointment procedures for leadership team members include democratic recommendations, organizational investigations, and approval and appointment, with a pre-appointment announcement system.
Assessment system. This involves evaluating staff members' political awareness, conduct, knowledge, work performance, attitude, work ability, personality, and health status within a certain period and through certain methods to determine whether they are competent, serving as the basis for determining treatment, promotions, rewards and penalties, and training. The assessment of leadership team members includes personal self-evaluations during staff meetings or, democratic appraisals and evaluations, forming objective and practical assessment materials. The personnel department proposes assessment levels based on the assessment results, and the responsible leadership determines the assessment level, which is then fed back to the relevant unit.
Training system. Training content includes political theory, the Party's line and policies, scientific and cultural knowledge, and professional and technical knowledge. Training methods include pre-job training and in-service training.
Rewards and penalties system. For awards to individuals or groups, it is necessary to investigate and verify their deeds and comprehensively assess their achievements, roles, and impacts to carefully determine the type and level of rewards. In awards, advanced workers are approved by their units; personal third-class merit, collective third-class merit, and collective third-class merit are approved by higher-level judicial administrative organs; personal first- and second-class merit, and collective second-class merit are approved by provincial-level judicial departments (bureaus); first- and second-class models are approved by the Ministry of Justice. Penalties include warning, demerit, serious demerit, demotion, demotion, dismissal, probationary dismissal, and dismissal, totaling eight types.
Salary and benefits system. Staff of judicial administrative organs and their affiliated institutions implement a structural wage system with post-based salaries as the main component. Salaries should adapt to the characteristics of various staff members and clearly reflect the principle of distribution based on labor.
The disciplinary inspection and supervision work of judicial administrative organs is a powerful guarantee to prevent and oppose corruption and maintain the fighting spirit of the agencies. It is essential to select outstanding cadres with strong political quality, high policy levels, adherence to principles, and upright conduct to strengthen the disciplinary inspection and supervision teams. The political committees of judicial administrative organs at all levels must fully recognize the nature and tasks of the Party's disciplinary inspection and supervision work in the new century to ensure the healthy growth of the judicial administrative police force. The disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Ministry of Justice operates under the leadership of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the National Supervisory Commission, and the Ministry of Justice. It oversees and inspects the implementation of the Party's line, policies, national laws and regulations, State Council resolutions and orders, and the Ministry of Justice's decisions and regulations by departments within the Ministry of Justice, staff at the deputy division level and below, affiliated enterprises and institutions, managed units, and leaders appointed by the Ministry. The disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Ministry of Justice handles cases including complaints and accusations from the public, those assigned by leadership, those transferred by relevant departments, those discovered by disciplinary inspection and supervision organs, and appeals against disciplinary penalties by disciplinary inspection and supervision subjects. The disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Ministry of Justice generally handles cases in the following ways:
(1) Direct handling, where the Ministry's disciplinary inspection and supervision department directly investigates and handles disciplinary cases;
(2) Collaborative handling, where other disciplinary inspection and supervision departments handle cases, and the disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Ministry of Justice can assist in investigation and understanding;
(3) Transfer, where cases handled by subordinate departments and complaints or accusations letters are transferred to relevant departments or provincial (region/municipal) judicial departments (bureaus) for investigation and handling;
(4) Follow-up, where cases assigned by leadership to lower-level disciplinary inspection and supervision organs are regularly followed up. Handling agencies generally report the results of investigations and handling within three to six months.
After preliminary verification of cases, the disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Ministry of Justice should submit a report on the preliminary verification findings and make different handling decisions, such as informing the relevant unit of the person being reported, recommending appropriate handling by the unit, or initiating an investigation. For cases that are officially investigated, the disciplinary inspection and supervision organ writes an investigation report; if it is found that the complaint or accusation is unfounded, a report to withdraw the case is written; if the behavior of the person under investigation constitutes a crime, it is transferred to the judicial authorities for legal handling. The disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Ministry of Justice should strengthen close cooperation with the Political Department and the Party Committee of the Ministry, provide guidance on disciplinary inspection and supervision work within the Ministry, its affiliated institutions, and the national judicial administrative system; and propose opinions on the establishment, joint operation, abolition of disciplinary inspection and supervision organs within affiliated institutions, and the appointment and dismissal of key leaders, to fully leverage the role of disciplinary inspection and supervision organs in the anti-corruption fight within the judicial administrative system.
Township legal service offices should negotiate with local notary offices to establish systems for notary cooperation and liaison, and may set up notary liaison officers within the township legal service offices. Township legal service practitioners can assist in pre-notary services, including: widely promoting the important role of the notary system and relevant knowledge about applying for notarization; collecting and transmitting notary-related information, facilitating introductions and liaison; answering notary legal inquiries, drafting notary application forms, and handling other legal documents related to notarization; and other pre-notary services authorized by notary offices. When receiving a verbal or written notary application from a party, township legal service practitioners should assist in preliminary reviews to determine whether the application falls within the scope of notary services and the jurisdiction of the local notary office, whether the applicant's identity meets relevant regulations, whether the procedures, documents, and supporting materials are complete, and other issues. For applications that meet the requirements, they should be transferred to the notary office for formal acceptance; for applications that do not meet the requirements, they should explain the situation to the applicant and suggest solutions; for incomplete procedures or documents, they should inform the applicant and assist in completing them; and for applications that clearly violate laws, regulations, and public interests, they should refuse assistance and clearly inform the applicant of their right to request a re-examination by the notary office.
Township legal service offices should accept party commissions to assist in notarization in accordance with legal procedures. Township legal service practitioners, based on specific authorizations from notary offices, can:
(1) Assist in reviewing whether the facts, documents, and supporting materials for notarization are true and legal, and whether the applicant has the ability to exercise rights and fulfill obligations;
(2) If the notary office considers the supporting materials for the application incomplete or questionable, assist in notifying the applicant to supplement them according to requirements or assist in investigating and collecting relevant materials from relevant individuals or organizations;
(3) For notarization that must be applied for by the applicant in person, if the applicant has difficulties, assist notary personnel in handling it at the applicant's location;
(4) Assist in delivering notary documents to the applicant and, if the notary office refuses notarization, assist in explaining the reasons for refusal and the appeal procedure for dissatisfaction;
(5) Assist the applicant in paying notary fees to the notary office.
Township legal service practitioners can assist in post-notary follow-up, focusing on reviewing and inspecting the performance of civil and economic legal documents such as contracts and agreements that have been notarized. For disputes arising after notarization that were assisted in, based on the applicant's request, township legal service practitioners can assist or independently mediate.
On the basis of actively promoting collaborative notarization, township legal service offices can handle witnessing for agreements or contracts with single content, clear rights and responsibilities, small amounts, and short performance periods, including: rural business contracts, various contracts signed between rural social service organizations and households, simple civil and economic contracts, and other projects requiring services. Handling witnessing involves a comprehensive legal service that includes reviewing and improving contracts, verifying their authenticity, legality, and feasibility, and supervising contract performance and promptly mediating disputes that arise. Legal service practitioners must personally witness and verify on the spot, determine whether the applicant's identity and capacity for action, the application, and the provided documents and materials are true and legal, actively provide legal consultations and review and revise contracts, help parties perfect their legal actions, and then provide certification on behalf of the legal service office.