Measures for the Selection of People's Assessors

Promulgation Date: 2018-8-22
Title: 关于印发《人民陪审员选任办法》的通知
Document Number:
Expiration date: 
Promulgating Entities: Ministry of Justice, Supreme People's, Ministry of Public Security 
Source of text: http://www.moj.gov.cn/government_public/content/2018-08/26/fggz_38887.html

Article 1: These Measures are drafted on the basis of the "People's Assessors Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter simply the People's Assessors Law) so as to regulate the work of selecting people's assessors and to ensure the effective implementation of the people's assessor system.

Article 2: The work of selecting people's assessors shall adhere to the principles of lawfulness and democracy, openness and justice, coordination and high efficiency.

Article 3: People's assessors are primarily chosen through random selection. As needed for trial activities, people's assessors may be chosen through individual applications or through recommendation by their unit or the basic level mass autonomous organizations or people's organizations for their place of household registration or habitual residence (hereinafter simply "organizational recommendation).

Article 4: The judicial-administrative organ, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, are to organize and carry out the work of selecting people's assessors.

Provincial-level and districted-city level judicial-administrative organs are responsible for the guidance and oversight of efforts to select people's assessors, and county-level judicial-administrative organs are responsible for the specific work of selecting people's assessors.

Judicial-administrative organs shall establish working bodies, allot personnel, and establish and improve work systems as needed for their duties.

Judicial-administrative organs, basic level people's courts, and public security organs shall strengthen communication and contact, and establish mechanisms for coordination and cooperation.

Article 5: Based on case trial needs and on factors such as the jurisdictional region's population, area, and ethnic situation, taken together with the higher level people's courts' needs for the random selection of people's assessors, basic level people's courts are to put forward an opinion on the number of people's assessors that is at least three times the number of judges in that court, and request confirmation from the Standing Committee of the People's Congress.

Article 6: Before requesting that the Standing Committee of that People's Congress for that level confirm the opinion on the number of people's assessors, basic level people's courts shall first report to the people's court at the level above for review and verification, and the people's court at the level above may make appropriate adjustments to the number of people's assessors for their jurisdictional region. After the people's court at the level above reviews, verifies, and confirms, is it to be reported to the provincial (municipal, autonomous region) High People's Court for recording.

Article 7: The number of people's assessors may be adjusted in light of actual conditions. Adjustments shall be conducted by the basic level people's courts in accordance with the procedures for confirming the number of people's assessors

Article 8: People's assessors chosen by individual applications and organizational recommendation must not exceed 1/5 of the total number of the people's assessor for the area's basic level people's courts.

Article 9: Basic level people's courts shall promptly send the number of people's assessors to the judicial-administrative organs at the same level. Together with the judicial-administrative organs, the basic level people's courts shall determine the necessary numbers of people's assessors to be selected respectively by random sample as well as by individual applications and organizational recommendations.

Article 10: Judicial-administrative organs, together with basic level people's courts and public security organs, are to publicly release an announcement of the selection of people's assessors, the content of which is to include the number to be selected, requirements for selection, procedures for selection, and other such matters; and the period of the announcement is to be 30 days.

Where it is necessary to choose people's assessors through individual applications and organizational recommendations, the public announcement shall also clarify the period for applications and recommendations.

Article 11: The judicial-administrative organs, together with basic-level people's courts and public security organs, are to randomly select five times or more the number of people that will be appointed as people's assessors to be candidates for people's assessors from the list of the jurisdictional region's habitual residents who are at least 28 years old.

Article 12: The judicial-administrative organ, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, are to carry out the work of gathering information for the selection of people's assessors and establish an information base of candidates for people's assessor.

The basic level people's courts and public security organs, shall promptly provide the judicial-administrative organs with information relevant to the candidates for people's assessor,

Article 13: The judicial-administrative organs, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, are to conduct reviews of candidates for people's assessor's qualifications in accordance with articles 5,6,7, and 13 of the People's Assessors Law.

When necessary, the judicial-administrative organs, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, may go to the basic-level mass autonomous organization or people's organization for the candidate's unit, place of household registration, or habitual residence to conduct an investigation, or may conduct an in-person review of the candidates.

Article 14: The judicial-administrative organ, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, shall inform qualified candidates for people's assessor of the rights and duties of people's assessors, and solicit their opinions on serving as people's assessors.

Article 15: The judicial-administrative organs, together with the basic level people's courts, are to randomly select potential people's assessor from the list of candidates for people's assessor who have passed the qualifications review.

Article 16: Where citizens apply to serve as people's assessors, they shall follow the requirements of the selection announcement, and submit their identification, academic records, and other written materials to the county-level judicial-administrative organ for their place of household registration or habitual residence, and sign an application to be a people's assessor candidate.

Where organizations' recommend people's assessors, they must acquire the citizen's consent, and provide the resume, academic records, and other written materials on the person being recommended to the county-level judicial-administrative organ, and sign a people's assessor candidate recommendation form.

Article 17: The judicial-administrative organs, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, are to conduct reviews of the qualifications of applicants and persons recommended for people's assessor, in accordance with article 13 of these Measures.

Article 18: The judicial-administrative organs, together with the basic level people's courts, are to select potential people's assessors from the applicants and people recommended for people's assessor who have passed the qualifications review. Where the number of applicants and recommended persons exceeds the number for potential people's assessors, potential people's assessors may be randomly selected from among the qualified applicants and recommended persons.

Confirmed potential people's assessors shall fully reflect the breadth and representativeness of people's assessors.

Article 19: The judicial-administrative organs, together with the basic level people's courts and public security organs, shall publicly announce the list of potential people's assessors. The period for the announcement must not be less than 5 working days.

Article 20: After the announcement, confirmed people's assessor candidates are to be submitted by the presidents of basic level people's courts to the standing committee of the people's congress at the same level for appointment.

Basic level people's courts requesting appointment of people's assessor by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress at the same level shall submit a proposal for appointing the people's assessors, a list of candidates, and other materials that the Standing Committee of the People's Congress for the same level requests be submitted.

Judicial-administrative organs shall cooperate with basic level people's courts in providing the relevant materials.

Article 21: Basic level people's courts, together with the judicial-administrative organs, shall announce the list of people's assessors to the public.

Article 22: People's courts, together with the judicial-administrative organs, shall promptly inform the people's assessors themselves, their units, and the basic-level mass autonomous organization or people's organization for their place of household registration, or habitual residence, and report to the public security organs.

Article 23: Judicial-administrative organs and basic level people's courts shall report the people's assessor list up to each level through the provincial-level judicial-administrative organs and High People's Court for recording.

Article 24: People's assessors are to serve five-year terms and generally must not serve consecutive terms. Citizens must not serve as people's assessors more than twice.

Article 25: Citizens must not serve as people's assessors in two or more basic level people's courts at the same time.

Article 26: Where the shortage of people's assessors exceeds 1/10 of the total number of people's assessor for a basic level people's court, or as needed for trial work, people's assessors may be supplemented at appropriate times.

Selection of supplemental people's assessors are to be randomly selected and confirmed from the list of people's assessor candidates that have passed qualifications review. A public announcement is to be made in accordance with the procedures provided in articles 19-22 of these Measures.

Article 27: After being appointed by the standing committees of the people's congresses, people's assessors shall take a public oath of office.

The text of people's assessors' oath is: I am a people's assessor of the People's Republic of China, and I swear to be loyal to the nation, to be loyal to the people, to be loyal to the Constitution and laws, to lawfully participate in trial activities, to faithfully perform trial duties, to have honesty and integrity, to make impartial and just judgments, and to protect social fairness and justice!

Article 28: The oath-taking ceremonies for people's assessors taking office are to be organized by basic level people's courts together with the judicial-administrative organs.

Article 29: Maritime courts, intellectual property rights courts, railway and transport courts, and other courts that do not have a corresponding level of people's congress usually select people's assessors independently, and where it is necessary to have people's assessors participate in collegial panels to try cases, the may be randomly selected from the people's assessor list for the basic level people's courts of that jurisdictional region or the case jurisdictional region.

Article 30: The Ministry of Justice, Supreme People's Court, and Ministry of Public Security are jointly responsible for interpreting these Measures.

Article 31: These Measures take effect beginning on the date of their promulgation. These Measures take effect beginning on the date of their promulgation.