Article 2 The judicial power of People's Republic of China (PRC) shall be exercised by the following people's courts: local people's courts at various levels; Military courts and other special people's courts; The Supreme People's Court. Local people's courts at all levels are divided into: basic people's courts, intermediate people's courts and higher people's courts.
Article 3 The task of the people's courts is to try criminal cases and civil cases, punish all criminals and resolve civil disputes through trial activities, so as to safeguard the dictatorship of the proletariat, the socialist legal system and social order, protect the socialist property owned by the whole people and the property collectively owned by the working people, protect the legitimate property privately owned by citizens, protect citizens' personal rights, democratic rights and other rights, and ensure the smooth progress of the country's socialist revolution and socialist construction.
The people's courts use all their activities to educate citizens to be loyal to the socialist motherland and consciously abide by the Constitution and laws.
Article 4 The people's courts shall exercise judicial power independently according to law, and shall not be interfered by administrative organs, social organizations or individuals.
Article 5 In handling cases, the people's courts are equal to all citizens regardless of nationality, race, sex, occupation, social background, religious belief, education level, property status and length of residence, and are not allowed to have any privileges.
Article 6 Citizens of all ethnic groups have the right to use their own spoken and written languages in litigation. The people's court shall translate for the parties who are not familiar with the local language. In areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities or where many ethnic groups live together, the people's courts shall conduct trials in the local common language and issue judgments, notices and other documents in the local common language.
Article 7 The people's courts shall hear cases in public, except cases involving state secrets, personal privacy and juvenile delinquency.
Article 8 The defendant has the right to be defended. In addition to defending himself, the defendant has the right to entrust a lawyer to defend him. Citizens recommended by people's organizations or the unit to which the defendant belongs or approved by the people's court may defend him, and close relatives or guardians of the defendant may defend him. When the people's court deems it necessary, it may appoint a defender to defend it.
Article 9 The people's courts shall practise a collegiate system in handling cases.
When the people's court tries a case of first instance, it shall be composed of judges or judges and people's jurors. Simple civil cases, minor criminal cases and cases otherwise stipulated by law may be tried by a single judge.
The people's court shall try cases of appeal and protest by a collegial panel of judges.
The collegial panel shall be presided over by a judge appointed by the president or the president. When the president or the presiding judge participates in the trial of a case, he shall personally serve as the presiding judge.
Article 10 People's courts at all levels shall set up judicial committees and practise democratic centralism. The task of the Judicial Committee is to sum up the trial experience and discuss major or difficult cases and other issues related to the trial work.
Members of the judicial committees of local people's courts at various levels shall be appointed and removed by the chairman of the people's congress at the corresponding level; Members of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court shall be appointed and removed by President the Supreme People's Court at the request of NPC Standing Committee.
The meetings of the judicial committees of the people's courts at all levels shall be presided over by the president, and the procurator-general of the people's procuratorate at the corresponding level may attend.
Article 11 In handling cases, the people's courts shall adopt the system of second instance and final adjudication.
With regard to the judgment or ruling of a case of first instance made by local people's courts at various levels, the parties may appeal to the people's court at the next higher level in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law, and the people's procuratorate may lodge a protest with the people's court at the next higher level in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law.
A judgment or ruling of a case of first instance by a local people's court at various levels shall have legal effect if the parties concerned do not appeal or the people's procuratorate does not protest during the appeal period.
The judgments and orders of the Intermediate People's Court, the Higher People's Court, the Supreme People's Court in the second instance and the Supreme People's Court in the first instance are all final, that is, legally effective judgments and orders.
Article 12 Unless the death penalty is pronounced by the Supreme People's Court according to law, it shall be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval.
Article 13 If the presidents of people's courts at all levels find errors in ascertaining facts or applying laws in their legally effective judgments and rulings, they must submit them to the judicial committee for handling.
The Supreme People's Court has the right to send back or instruct the people's courts at lower levels to retry the legally effective judgments and rulings of the people's courts at all levels. If the people's courts at higher levels find that there are indeed mistakes, they have the right to send back or instruct the people's courts at lower levels to retry.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate has the right to lodge a protest against the legally effective judgments and rulings of people's courts at all levels, and the people's procuratorate at a higher level has the right to lodge a protest when it finds that the legally effective judgments and rulings of people's courts at lower levels are indeed wrong.
The people's courts at all levels shall seriously and responsibly handle the complaints made by the parties against the legally effective judgments and rulings.
Article 14 If the people's court considers that the main facts of the case prosecuted by the people's procuratorate are unclear, the evidence is insufficient or illegal, it may return it to the people's procuratorate for supplementary investigation or notify the people's procuratorate to correct it.
Article 15 If a party considers that a judge has an interest in the case or is otherwise unable to conduct a fair trial, it has the right to request the judge to withdraw. Whether the judge withdraws or not is decided by the president of this court.
If a judge thinks that he has an interest in the case or has other relations that need to be avoided, he shall report to the president of the court for decision.
Article 16 the Supreme People's Court is responsible to the National People's Congress and the NPC Standing Committee and reports on his work. Local people's courts at various levels are responsible to the people's congresses at the corresponding levels and their standing committees and report on their work.
The trial work of the people's courts at lower levels shall be supervised by the people's courts at higher levels. Article 17 Basic people's courts include: county people's courts and municipal people's courts; Autonomous County People's Court; People's courts of municipal districts. Article 18 A basic people's court consists of a president, vice presidents and several judges.
The basic people's court may establish a criminal court, a civil court and an economic court, with a president and a vice president.
Article 19 The basic people's court may establish a number of people's courts according to the region, population and cases. The people's court is an integral part of the grass-roots people's court, and its judgments and rulings are those of the grass-roots people's court.
Article 20 Basic people's courts try criminal and civil cases of first instance, except as otherwise provided by laws and decrees.
When the basic people's court considers that the criminal and civil cases it accepts are serious and should be tried by the people's court at a higher level, it may request to be transferred to the people's court at a higher level for trial.
Article 21 In addition to trying cases, the basic people's courts also try the following matters: trying civil disputes and minor criminal cases that do not need to be tried; Guide the work of the people's mediation committee. Article 22 Intermediate people's courts include: intermediate people's courts established by provinces and autonomous regions according to regions; Intermediate people's courts of municipalities directly under the Central Government; Intermediate people's courts of provinces and autonomous regions; Autonomous Prefecture Intermediate People's Court. Article 23 The Intermediate People's Court consists of a president, vice presidents, presiding judges, vice presidents and several judges.
The Intermediate People's Court shall set up criminal courts, civil courts and economic courts, and other courts may be set up as necessary.
Article 24 The Intermediate People's Court shall try the following cases: cases of first instance under its jurisdiction as stipulated by laws and regulations; Cases of first instance transferred for trial by grass-roots people's courts; Appeals and protests against the judgments and rulings of grassroots people's courts; Protest cases filed by the people's procuratorate in accordance with the procedure of trial supervision. When the intermediate people's court considers that the criminal and civil cases it accepts are serious and should be tried by the people's court at a higher level, it may request that they be transferred to the people's court at a higher level for trial.
Article 25 Higher people's courts include: provincial higher people's courts; Higher People's Court of the Autonomous Region; Higher people's courts of municipalities directly under the central government. Article 26 The Higher People's Court consists of a president, vice-presidents, presidents, vice-presidents and judges.
The Higher People's Court shall establish criminal courts, civil courts and economic courts, and other courts may be established if necessary.
Article 27 The Higher People's Court shall try the following cases: cases of first instance under the jurisdiction of the Higher People's Court according to laws and decrees; Cases of first instance transferred for trial by lower people's courts; Appeals and protests against judgments and rulings of lower people's courts; Protest cases filed by the people's procuratorate in accordance with the procedure of trial supervision. Article 28 The organization and functions of special people's courts shall be separately stipulated by the NPC Standing Committee.
Article 29 the Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial organ of the country.
The Supreme People's Court supervises the trial work of local people's courts at all levels and special people's courts.
Article 30 the Supreme People's Court consists of a president, vice presidents, chief judges, vice presidents and judges.
The Supreme People's Court has criminal courts, civil courts, economic courts and other courts that need to be established.
Article 31 the Supreme People's Court tries the following cases: cases of first instance that are under its jurisdiction according to laws and regulations and that should be tried by itself; Appeals and protests against judgments and rulings of higher people's courts and special people's courts; Protest cases filed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate in accordance with trial supervision procedures. Thirty-second the Supreme People's Court how to specifically apply laws and decrees to explain in the trial process. Article 33 Citizens who have reached the age of 23 and have the right to vote and stand for election may be elected as the president of a people's court or appointed as vice presidents, presidents, vice presidents, judges and assistant judges, except those who are deprived of political rights. A judge of a people's court must have legal expertise.
Article 34 The presidents of local people's courts at various levels are elected by local people's congresses at various levels, and vice presidents, presidents, vice presidents and judges are appointed and removed by the standing committees of local people's congresses at various levels.
The presidents, vice-presidents, presidents, vice-presidents and judges of intermediate people's courts established by provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be appointed and removed by the standing committees of the people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
The presidents of local people's courts at various levels established in ethnic autonomous areas are elected by people's congresses at various levels in ethnic autonomous areas, and vice presidents, presidents, vice presidents and judges are appointed and removed by the standing committees of people's congresses at various levels in ethnic autonomous areas.
President the Supreme People's Court is elected by the National People's Congress, and vice presidents, presidents, vice presidents and judges are appointed and removed by the NPC Standing Committee.
Article 35 The term of office of presidents of people's courts at various levels is the same as that of people's congresses at the corresponding levels.
People's congresses at all levels have the right to recall the presidents of the people's courts elected by themselves. When the local people's congresses at various levels are not in session, if the Standing Committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level considers it necessary to replace the president of the people's court, it shall report to the people's court at a higher level for approval.
Article 36 People's courts at various levels may appoint assistant judges according to their needs, who shall be appointed and removed by the people's courts at the corresponding levels.
The assistant judge assists the judge in his work. An assistant judge may temporarily act as a judge upon the proposal of the president and the approval of the judicial committee.
Article 37 Citizens who have reached the age of 23 and have the right to vote and stand for election may be elected as people's jurors, except those who are deprived of political rights.
During the performance of their duties in the people's courts, people's jurors are members of the courts who participate in trials and enjoy the same rights as judges.
Article 38 During the performance of their duties, people's jurors shall be paid by their original work units. If there is no wage income, the people's court will give appropriate subsidies.
Article 39 People's courts at all levels shall have clerks, who shall be responsible for the records of the trial court and handling other matters related to the trial.
Article 40 Local people's courts at all levels shall have executors to handle the execution of judgments and orders in civil cases and the execution of property in criminal cases.
Local people's courts at all levels shall be equipped with forensic doctors.
People's courts at all levels shall have several judicial policemen.