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China to Hold First Lawyers' Debate Contest
China will hold its first ever televised national lawyers' debate contest in an effort to spread the knowledge of law among the public and feature the caliber of its growing number of lawyers.
Some 6,340 lawyers across the nation have participated in contests at various local levels, and 32 debate teams with 196 lawyers will compete in the semi-finals in Beijing starting March 26. The final is set for April 29.
"The highly publicized contests have served the educational purpose well," said Wu Mingde, secretary-general of the All-China Lawyers' Association (ACLA), Wednesday. "Because the cases discussed are often topics of intense public interests, such as medical accident disputes or real estate issues."
Different from court debates, there are no court judges for the contests, but legal experts who serve as contest judges usually tell their opinion on the debate, so that audiences may tell who is right and who is wrong.
"China has formulated laws to cover almost all aspects of its economic and social life, but the public thirst for more knowledge about the law are yet to be quenched," said Wu.
The judicial system of the country has been dramatically reformed over the years to bring the role of lawyers in court debate to greater play, and the debate contest, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the ACLA and China Central Television, is expected "to serve as an model for other legal professionals," he said.
Candidates in the semi-finals range in age between 23 and 54. All are practicing lawyers with at least a bachelors degree.
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