China to begin jury trials next year

China will begin holding jury trials next year as part of court reforms that will also increase the number of judges, it was reported today.

The measures were announced by China’s highest court after a meeting last week on improving courts’ ability to cope with cases stemming from the country’s sweeping economic changes, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Jurors are to be elected to five-year terms and must have at least two years of university education, the report said.

The report did not say how such elections would take place or how jury trials would differ from current proceedings. But the communist government has used non-partisan “village elections” in recent years to pick its lowest-level officials and members of local authorities.

It was also unclear how the use of juries would affect the two biggest public complaints about Chinese courts – corruption by court staff and interference by Communist Party officials in rulings.

The number of judges in Chinese courts will be increased by 10%, the reports said.

Xiao Yang, president of the Supreme People’s Court, also promised that courts would take tougher action on the politically sensitive issues of corruption and intellectual property theft, as well as smuggling and dereliction of duty.

Courts faced rising numbers of cases involving state-owned company reforms, disputes of back pay, illegal land acquisitions and burglaries, Xiao said.

“During such a period, the country needs improvement in its judicial capacity,” he said.