Specialized judicial organs or those with jurisdictions spanning different administrative regions have, for example, already been established. In late 2014, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) set up three Intellectual Property Right (IPR) courts to handle IPR-related cases. The SPC also inaugurated two circuit courts in Shenzhen and Shenyang at the beginning of 2015.
Going forward, measures will be carried out to foster a strong legal team, including improvements to the professional threshold, the establishment of a selection mechanism for judges and prosecutors, as well as the encouragement of exchange between legal practitioners and researchers.
Chen said the management of personnel would be difficult as measures were needed to ensure the right candidates get the posts.
ONE STEP AT A TIME
Chen Weidong lauded the plan for its design, as it would be rolled out step by step.
Judicial transparency was highlighted as a starting point, which is relatively easy to be achieved and can be directly felt by the public.
While regarding major changes, pilot schemes have been initiated, to ensure success before wider implementation.
In seven provincial areas judges and prosecutors are now accountable for the cases they handle and changes have been made to the selection of judges and prosecutors.
Another 11 provincial areas rolled out these measures at the beginning of this year.
According to the timetable, reforms already initiated should achieve "greater progress within this year," including the establishment of cross-regional courts and procuratorates, as well as circuit courts.
Other measures set to see progress by the end of this year include the establishment of a system to record and report intervention by officials in legal activities, and litigation reform.
In addition, more attention will be given to the design and implementation of more complex measures.
This will not be a blind and reckless campaign, Chen said.
