Abstract
The annual plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese Peole's Political Consultative Conference early March 2016 have reiterated the topic of Judicial Reform in China. Reforms of the Chinese legal system, judicial practices and institution have advanced rapidly in recent years. The ability of legal practitioners to effectively represent clients depends on these reforms. Judicial reforms have impacted all major areas of practice from the filing of claims through the rendering and publication of judgments. Though reforms may sometimes appear piecemeal, practitioners on the ground are able to identify overall trends. Foremost among these is the movement towards increased accountability for individuals and institutions throughout the judicial system.

I. Introduction

The legal system of the People’s Republic of China (“the PRC”) has in recent decades, developed rapidly. Since the 1970s, the Party and the government have continued to set targets for improving the rule of law in accordance with the core values of socialism.

Hsio has described the development of the modern legal system in the PRC as having taken place in various stages. He describes the process as beginning with the purge of the Gang of Four, which was thereafter followed by the reestablishment of People’s Procuratorates in 1978. In addition, the market economy being enshrined in the 1982 Constitution presented a major directional shift for the legal system and the country as a whole. The enshrinement of protection of private investments in the 2004 Constitution may be considered the last major reform.

Current trends in reforms to the judicial system suggest that the PRC may now be on the cusp of a new stage toward the perfection of a modern legal system. Fu Hualing has noted: “In the context of China, rule of law and judicial integrity have unique characteristics,” since the origin of the PRC, and persisting through the reforms of Deng Xiaoping, “the People’s Courts will always adhere to the mass line of the party.” However, to outside observers as well as Chinese commentators judicial independence and accountability have been notably absent.

The Chinese judicial system over the past 30 years can be characterized by tensions in the judicial application of the written law, limits to the institutional and social capacity to implement the law, extra-judicial constraints imposed by the political goals of the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”), and acts of individual corruption by individuals in positions of power. However, recent reform processes appear to indicate a turning point whereby the written law and institutional capacity are both much stronger and much more effective; while at the same time the political goals of the CCP appear to have turned toward prioritization and effective implementation of judicial reform and reducing opportunities for individual corruption in the judicial system.

Judicial reforms have been an important theme of the National People’s Congress (“NPC”) for the past two years. In this essay we will review and analyze major judicial reforms discussed or implemented at the NPC conferences in 2014, 2015, and at the most recent conference in 2016. Recent reforms in China have been broad and wide reaching.

Reform efforts have targeted the processes and outcomes of litigation, and the role of legal professionals on both sides of the judicial bench. At the root of these reforms appears to be recognition that if the people cannot access the court system, nor rely on the system to produce justice, then no amount of incremental reform will have the desired effect. Likewise, if judgments are not effectively enforced, then even a well functioning legal system with highly educated professionals will appear impotent.

This paper seeks to review and analyze recent judicial reforms from the perspective of how they have or will impact typical judicial proceedings from practitioners’ perspective. This review is divided into separate analysis of reforms in each area of the judicial process. We will examine reforms touching on access to justice, including new requirements for clear written decisions on case acceptance or rejection. We will review a series of reforms increasing transparency, responsibility and accountability in litigation. We will review reforms made to strengthen judicial oversight by clarifying issues with remand and retrial of cases upon appeal. We will address reforms increasing the quality of judicial documents and accountability of judges, including the implementation of a judicial accountability system. We will discuss reforms made to procedures for enforcement of judgments. Finally, there are further discussions of reforms to the roles and responsibilities of lawyers and of judges.