Judicial reform enforces rule of law

Restraining power from interfering with the courts will help prevent wrongful verdicts and rebuild confidence in the legal system

The Fourth Plenum of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in October, which vowed to boost the rule of law, laid special emphasis on judicial reform, such as the circuit and trans-provincial courts adopted at Tuesday's top-level meeting on overall reform. The move has come amid growing complaints over loopholes in the country's judicial system that have impaired court fairness and bred corruption.

The move is needed because China's judicial agencies have failed to perform their roles well in the past. There are three main problems that need to be addressed: first, even though the law sets out the independence of courts and procuratorates from local Party and government authorities, they are in the same bureaucratic circle and rely on the authorities in their daily running. As a result, court and procuratorate officials tend to trade their power in hand with local authorities.