CPC should provide direction for judicial independence: lawyer
China's top justice is requiring courts to resist the Western trap of judicial independence and stick to Chinese ideology, which experts said is meant to highlight the importance of the Communist Party of China's leadership.
Supreme People's Court (SPC) president Zhou Qiang said at a meeting on Saturday attended by the heads of high people's courts nationwide that courts must resist the wrong ideology from the West, such as constitutional democracy, separation of powers and judicial independence, and stand firm on the rule of law with Chinese characteristics.
Zhou said courts should fight the disavowal of CPC leadership, defamation of the Chinese rule of law and judicial system and must not fall into the Western trap, China News Service reported on Saturday.
"The recent unjust and false cases triggered the condemnation of judicial organizations, with some calling for judicial independence in China and the rising ideological trend in favor of bourgeois liberalism," Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Judicial organizations are required to handle cases independently, which means CPC officials are not allowed to interfere in cases, but it is totally different from Western judicial independence, said Su, explaining that CPC leadership does not clash with the handling of cases in accordance with law.
The government has strengthened efforts to advance judicial reform in a bid to respect and protect human rights, the Xinhua News Agency said.
"Bureaucratic red tape is the root of unjust cases in judicial organs, and some abandon people-focused policies in cases, and wait for instructions from higher CPC leadership," said Su.
"The socialist political party system with Chinese characteristics is different from the Western concept of separation of powers, with the Chinese system consistent with a policy dating back to Deng Xiaoping," Su said.
Mao Lixin, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times on Sunday that "judicial independence should be realized under CPC leadership, which means the Party should provide political and ideological direction, and interfering with the exercise of judicial powers should be avoided."
Ideology will be an important factor in evaluating government officials, and those who violate the ideological requirements will be held accountable, Zhou said at the meeting.
Zhou also stressed the importance of protecting national political security, saying that courts should resist hostile forces' attempts to start a color revolution, and harshly punish those who incite the subversion of state power and participate in separatist activities.
