Supreme People's Court

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox high court

File:More China 040.JPG
The front facade of the Supreme People's Court in Beijing China.

Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists

The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national importance.

The Supreme People's Court was established in October 1949, and its functions were first outlined in 1954. During the Cultural Revolution, the court was occupied by the People's Liberation Army from 1968 to 1973. During the period of reform and opening up, the court began to focus on legal issues.

According to the Constitution of China, the Supreme People's Court is accountable to the National People's Congress. The court has about 400 judges and more than 600 administrative personnel. The court serves as the highest court for the People's Republic of China and also for cases investigated by the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite act Template:Webarchive</ref> The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have separate judicial systems based on British common law traditions and Portuguese civil law traditions respectively, and are out of the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court.

History

The Supreme People's Court was established on 22 October 1949<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and began operating in November 1950.<ref name="Finder1993">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp At least four members of the first court leadership did not come from a legal background, and most of its first staff were assigned from the People's Liberation Army to the Court.<ref name="Finder1993"/>Template:Rp The functions of the court was first outlined in the Chinese constitution in its 1954 version, which said the court has the power of independent adjudication and is accountable to the National People's Congress.<ref name="ChenGuimin">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

During the Cultural Revolution, the 1975 constitution removed the provision that said courts were to decide cases independently and required them to report to revolutionary committees.<ref name="ChenGuimin"/>Template:Rp Most staff members of the court were sent to the countryside, and the People's Liberation Army occupied the court from 1968 to 1973.<ref name="Finder1993"/>Template:Rp

Following the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, the Supreme People's Court began to focus on legal issues, especially those related to civil and commercial law, because of China's economic liberalization under new leader Deng Xiaoping.<ref name="Finder1993"/>Template:Rp The independent power of adjudicate cases returned to the constitution with the 1982 amendment, which explicitly states the courts' right of adjudication cannot be influenced by administrative organs, social organizations and individuals.<ref name="ChenGuimin"/>Template:Rp

In 2005, the Supreme People's Court announced its intent to "[take] back authority for death penalty approval" over concerns about "sentencing quality",Template:R and the National People's Congress officially changed the Organic Law on the People's Courts to require all death sentences to be approved by the Supreme People's Court on 31 October 2006.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A 2008 report stated that since the new review process, the court has rejected 15 percent of the death sentences decided by lower courts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As part of an effort to build judicial credibility through more effective enforcement of court orders, the SPC in 2013 promulgated a blacklist composed of Chinese citizens and companies that refuse to comply with court orders (typically court orders to pay a fine or to repay a loan) despite having the ability to do so.<ref name=":44">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp As of 2023, the SPC's blacklist is one of its most important enforcement tools and its use has resulted in the recovery of tens of trillions of RMB for fines and delinquent repayments.<ref name=":44" />Template:Rp

On 1 January 2019, the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court was established to handle all second instance hearings from cases heard in the first instance by the Intellectual Property Courts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Functions

According to the Constitution of China, the Supreme People's Court is accountable to the National People's Congress.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Qi2019">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp It is also subservient to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).<ref name=":02">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The court has about 400 judges and more than 600 administrative personnel.<ref name="Qi2019" />Template:Rp

Adjudication

The Supreme People's Court exercises its original jurisdiction over cases placed with the court by laws and regulations and those the court deems within its jurisdiction. It is generally selective in the matters it hears, focusing on those with the potential to impact future similar cases.<ref name=":022">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp It also reviews appeals or protests against trial decisions or verdicts of high people's courts and special people's courts, as well as appeals against court judgments lodged by the Supreme People's Procuratorate according to trial supervision procedures. When the court has discovered errors in the rulings and verdicts of lower courts that are already enforced, it investigates or appoints a lower court to rehear the case.

The court also approves death sentences and suspended death sentences handed down by lower courts. It also approves verdicts on crimes not specifically stipulated in the criminal law.

The court explains the application of laws in specific cases during a trial.<ref>The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. The Supreme People's Court (SPC) Template:Webarchive</ref> Further details about this were described by Zhou Qiang as:

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

The reply is a request for a specific case. Its legal binding force is limited to the case itself and does not have universal legal effect. In other cases, the judge cannot directly use the above reply as the basis for the judgment. For documents that have universal effectiveness and guide courts at all levels, the Supreme People's Court generally publishes it in the form of judicial interpretation and can make inquiries in newspapers and on the Internet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{#if:|

|}}{{#if:|

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

While the Chinese constitution does not state that courts have the power to review laws for their constitutionality (see constitutional review), the Supreme People's Court can request the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to evaluate whether an administrative rule, local regulation, autonomous regulation or separate regulation contravenes the constitution or a national law.<ref name="ChenGuimin"/>Template:Rp However, the Supreme People's Court has never made such request.<ref name="ChenGuimin"/>Template:Rp


Supervision of lower courts

The Supreme People's Court is also responsible for supervising the adjudication of lower courts and specialized courts.<ref name="ChenGuimin"/>Template:Rp

Organization

Divisions within the Supreme People's Court
  • Case-Filing Division
  • Criminal Divisions (5)
  • Civil Divisions (4)
  • Environment and Resources Division
  • Administrative Division
  • Judicial Supervision Division
Departments within the Supreme People's Court
  • State Compensation Division
  • Enforcement Department (Enforcement Command Center)
  • General Office
  • Political Department
  • Research office
  • Adjudication Management Office
  • Discipline and Supervision Department
  • International Cooperation Department
  • Judicial Administration and Equipment Management Department
  • Party-Related Affairs Department
  • Retirees' Affairs Department
  • Information Department
Circuit and other courts of the Supreme People's Court
  1. First Circuit (established in Shenzhen, December 2014)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  1. Second Circuit (established in Shenyang, December 2014)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  1. Third Circuit
  2. Fourth Circuit
  3. Fifth Circuit
  4. Sixth Circuit
  5. First International Commercial
  6. Second International Commercial
  7. Intellectual Property Court

President/Chief Justices and Vice Presidents of the Court

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

  1. 1949–1954: Supreme People's Court of the Central People's Government
  2. 1954–1959: Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China under the 1st National People's Congress
  3. 1959–1965: 2nd National People's Congress
  4. 1965–1975: 3rd National People's Congress
  5. 1975–1978: 4th National People's Congress
  6. 1978–1983: 5th National People's Congress
  7. 1983–1988: 6th National People's Congress
  8. 1988–1993: 7th National People's Congress
  9. 1993–1998: 8th National People's Congress
  10. 1998–2003: 9th National People's Congress
  11. 2003–2007: 10th National People's Congress
  12. 2008–2013: 11th National People's Congress
  13. 2013–2018: 12th National People's Congress
  14. 2018—2023: 13th National People's Congress
  15. 2023—present: 14th National People's Congress

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:PRC State Organs Template:Asia topic Template:PRC courts Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Supreme_People%27s_Court&oldid=819386"