Supreme People's Court

Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国最高人民法院 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zuìgāo Rénmín Fǎyuàn
Emblem of the People's Courts of the People's Republic of China
Established	October 22, 1949
Country	People's Republic of China
Location	Beijing
Coordinates	39°54′10.7″N 116°24′18.9″E / 39.902972°N 116.405250°E / 39.902972; 116.405250Coordinates: 39°54′10.7″N 116°24′18.9″E / 39.902972°N 116.405250°E / 39.902972; 116.405250
Composition method	Presidential selection with National People's Congress approval
Authorized by	Constitution of the People's Republic of China
Judge term length	5 years
Website	http://www.court.gov.cn/
President and Chief Justice
Currently	Zhou Qiang
Since	15 March 2013
Executive Vice President
Currently	Shen Deyong
Since	24 April 2008

The main gate of the Supreme People's Court in Beijing.

The front facade of the Supreme People's Court in Beijing China.

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The Supreme People's Court (Chinese: 最高人民法院; pinyin: Zuìgāo Rénmín Fǎyuàn) is the highest level of court in the mainland area of the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong and Macau, as special administrative regions, have their own separate judicial systems based on British common law traditions and Portuguese civil-law traditions respectively, and are out of the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court.

The Supreme People's Court is regarded as the superior appellate forum in China which supervises and governs the procedure of justice by all the special people courts and the local, subordinate courts. It is also the court of last resort in the whole of China.

The court is made up of 340 judges which meet in smaller tribunals to decide cases.

The court system consists of a four level, two-hearing system trial process.

History

The court was established on October 22, 1949. ^[1]

In 2005, the Supreme People's Court announced its intent to "[take] back authority for death penalty approval" over concerns about “sentencing quality”,^[2] and the National People's Congress officially changed the Organic Law on the People's Courts to require all death sentences to be approved by the Supreme People's Court on 31 October 2006.^[3] It has been reported that since the new review process, the court has rejected 15 percent of the death sentences decided by lower courts.^[4]

Since March 2013, the President of the Supreme People's Court and Grand Chief Justice has been Zhou Qiang.

In 2013, the court began of blacklist of debtors with roughly thirty two thousand names. The list has since been described a first step towards a national Social Credit System by state media.^[5][6]

In 2015, the court began working with private companies on social credit. For example, Sesame Credit began deducting credit points from people who defaulted on court fines.^[5]

Functions

1. Conducting trial of the following cases: first-hearing cases placed with the SPC by laws and regulations and those the SPC deems within its jurisdiction; appeals or protests against trial decisions or verdicts of the higher people's courts and special people's courts; appeals against court judgments lodged by the Supreme People's Procuratorate according to trial supervision procedures.
2. Giving approval to death sentences.
3. Supervising the trials by local people's courts and special people's courts at different levels.
4. On discovering mistakes in the rulings and verdicts of local people's courts already being legally enforced, conducting questioning or appointing a lower level court to conduct re-hearing.
5. Giving approvals to verdicts on crimes not specifically stipulated in the criminal law.
6. Offering explanations over the concrete application of laws during the trial process^[7]

Organisational Structure

Courts within the SPC

• Criminal courts
• Civil courts
• Administrative trials
• Special courts set up according to actual needs

Departments within the SPC

• Research office
• General affairs office
• Personnel department
• Judicial affairs department
• Administrative affairs department
• Office affairs bureau
• Foreign affairs bureau
• Education department

Circuit courts of the SPC

1. First Circuit (established in Shenzhen, Dec 2014)^[8]
2. Second Circuit (established in Shenyang, Dec 2014)^[9]
3. Third Circuit
4. Fourth Circuit
5. Fifth Circuit
6. Sixth Circuit

Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Court

1. 1949 - 1954: Supreme People's Court of the Central People's Government
   • President: Shen Junru
2. 1954 - 1959: Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China under the 1st National People's Congress
   • President: Dong Biwu
   • Vice Presidents: Gao Kelin, Ma Xiwu, Zhang Zhirang
3. 1959 - 1965: 2nd National People's Congress
   • President: Xie Juezai
   • Vice Presidents: Wu Defeng, Wang Weigang, Zhang Zhirang
4. 1965 - 1975: 3rd National People's Congress
   • President: Yang Xiufeng
   • Vice Presidents: Tan Guansan, Wang Weigang, Zeng Hanzhou, He Lanjie, Xing Yimin, Wang Demao, Zhang Zhirang
5. 1975 - 1978: 4th National People's Congress
   • President: Jiang Hua
   • Vice Presidents: Wang Weigang, Zeng Hanzhou, He Lanjie, Zheng Shaowen
6. 1978 - 1983: 5th National People's Congress
   • President: Jiang Hua
   • Vice Presidents: Zeng Hanzhou, He Lanjie, Zheng Shaowen, Song Guang, Wang Huaian, Wang Zhanping
7. 1983 - 1988: 6th National People's Congress
   • President: Zheng Tianxiang
   • Vice Presidents: Ren Jianxin, Song Guang, Wang Huaian, Wang Zhanping, Lin Huai, Zhu Mingshan, Ma Yuan
8. 1988 - 1993: 7th National People's Congress
   • President: Ren Jianxin
   • Vice Presidents: Hua Liankui, Lin Huai, Zhu Mingshan, Ma Yuan, Duan Muzheng
9. 1993 - 1998: 8th National People's Congress
   • President: Ren Jianxin
   • Vice Presidents: Zhu Mingshan, Xie Anshan, Gao Changli, Tang Dehua, Liu Jiachen, Luo Haocai, Li Guoguang, Lin Huai, Hua Liankui, Duan Muzheng, Wang Jingrong, Ma Yuan
10. 1998 - 2003: 9th National People's Congress
    • President: Xiao Yang
    • Vice Presidents: Zhu Mingshan, Li Guoguang, Jiang Xingchang, Shen Deyong, Wan Exiang, Cao Jianming, Zhang Jun, Huang Songyou, Jiang Bixin
11. 2003 - 2007: 10th National People's Congress
    • President: Xiao Yang
    • Vice Presidents: Cao Jianming, Jiang Xingchang, Shen Deyong, Wan Exiang, Huang Songyou, Su Zelin, Xi Xiaoming, Zhang Jun, Xiong Xuanguo
12. 2008 - 2013: 11th National People's Congress
    • President: Wang Shengjun
    • Vice Presidents: Shen Deyong (Executive), Zhang Jun, Wan Exiang, Jiang Bixin, Su Zelin, Xi Xiaoming, Nan Ying, Jing Hanchao, Huang Ermei
13. 2013 - present: 12th National People's Congress
    • President: Zhou Qiang

See also

• Court system of the People's Republic of China
• Supreme People's Procuratorate - the highest legal supervisory body, charged with safeguarding the laws and people's rights.
• Three Supremes

References

External links

• The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China Official site.
• Chinacourt English website sponsored by the Supreme People's Court, with court news and legal information including biographical information for the Grand Justices.
• PRC Laws Links to English versions of the Constitution, General Principles of Civil Law, Administrative Procedure Law, Civil and Criminal Procedure Laws, and the Judges Law.
• The Supreme People's Court Court information in English, maintained at People's Daily Online.
• The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China English website.