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ADB to assist China in improving economic laws

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-09 10:03

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing technical assistance to help China improve the capacity of its judiciary to implement economic laws.

ADB will provide a grant of $400,000 that will finance seminars and training programs designed to improve the quality and consistency of judgments in cases involving economic and commercial law. The Supreme People’s Court and National Judges College will contribute an equivalent of $500,000 to the project.

“Two of the most pressing challenges for PRC’s judicial system are the quality of adjudication of economic and commercial law-related cases and consistency in the application of the law in such cases,” said Peng Xiaohua, Principal Counsel for ADB’s Office of the General Counsel.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number and complexity of disputes related to economic and commercial laws. At the same time, many laws drawn up to deal with the country’s rapidly changing economic environment were drafted in a relatively short time and tend to lack detail.

The seminars will focus on updating the legal interpretations and providing training to the judges on jurisprudence of such legal interpretations from the Supreme People’s Court related to cases involving economic law.

Particular emphasis will be on assisting judges from less developed regions, particularly in western parts of the country, where financial constraints have made it difficult to attract and keep high-quality personnel or to provide ongoing training for the judges.

The project will be implemented over 18 months ending in February 2010.