How many judges does it take to hear a case?

The number of judges needed to hear a case must be determined according to the procedures of the court. According to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, when the people's court applies summary procedure to try civil cases of first instance, it should be tried by a judge alone (there must be a clerk).

If it is a general order, it will be tried by three judges (or one judge and two jurors) and a librarian. When a people's court tries a civil case of first instance and forms a collegial panel, the members of the collegial panel are composed of judges and jurors. The number of members of the collegial panel must be odd (three or more).

According to the People's Jury Law of People's Republic of China (PRC)

Article 8 The number of people's jurors shall be determined by the basic people's court according to the needs of hearing cases and submitted to the Standing Committee of the people's congress at the same level.

The number of people's jurors is not less than three times the number of judges in this court.

Article 14 People's jurors and judges form a collegial panel to hear cases, with the judge as the presiding judge, or a collegial panel of three judges and four people's jurors, or a collegial panel of seven people.

Extended data:

The people's court shall be composed of seven people's jurors and judges to hear the following cases of first instance:

(a) criminal cases that may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years, life imprisonment or death penalty, and have great social impact;

(2) Public interest litigation cases filed in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law and the Administrative Procedure Law;

(three) cases involving land acquisition and demolition, ecological environment protection, food and drug safety, and significant social impact;

(4) Other cases with significant social impact.