Supreme Court Presiding Judges Selected through Public CompetitionAfter one month of public competition and open assessments, the first group of 47 "presiding judges" have been appointed to the various specialized courts of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), a SPC spokesman said Thursday.The new system of selecting presiding judges through public competition has been a major reform taken by the SPC to reform China's judicial system, he said. These judges will be entitled to preside over collegiate benches in court hearings and sign court papers according to legal procedures, thus altering the long-time practice that court verdicts are subject to approval by high-ranking officials who may not necessarily attend the hearings, the spokesman noted. According to the spokesman, 87 judges have applied for the new positions just created, and 67 of them were recommended to undertake examinations, which the 47 passed. The list of candidates was publicized for further comments in the Supreme Court and later approved by the Judicial Committee of the SPC as "presiding judges." The spokesman said that all 47 presiding judges are experienced senior judges, and half of them are under 45, and 14 hold masters or doctorate degrees of law. The creation of presiding judges will bring the role of collegiate benches into full play, enhance the work efficiency of courts and help improve fair judgment of lawsuits, the spokesman said. |
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