China pledges education, hospital, juror system reforms

Judges from the Second Circuit Court of China's Supreme People's Court take their oaths of office. The court was established on Jan 31 in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province.[Photo/China Daily]

The meeting also saw the adoption of a pilot plan on overhauling the people's juror system, under which supervisors are selected and employed by courts to help scrutinize judges' decisions.

The system, a vital part of socialist democracy, should be reformed in a bid to promote judicial democracy and fairness, the statement said, explaining that reform will focus on enhancing independence in jurors' selection and expanding their participation in trials.

Another judicial reform plan on courts' accepting and hearing cases was also endorsed by the group.

To address the public's long-existing difficulty in filing cases, the current censorship of accreditation by courts will be replaced by a case-filing register system.

Authorities vowed to put an end to courts dragging their feet in hearing cases and officials creating barriers to filing cases.

Any interference in courts' accepting and hearing cases will be harshly punished, said the statement.

Meeting attendees also proposed a five-year plan for implementing the measures laid out at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, a key meeting on "rule of law".

It was agreed on Wednesday that reform measures must be coordinated, consistent, compatible and concrete.

Noting that the mission to comprehensively deepen reform and implement the rule of law is a heavy and urgent task, leaders at the meeting urged a spirit of "driving nails", parlance referring to perseverance.

They also reached consensus that as many reform details should be disclosed to the public as possible.