Chinese judges see the difference in Reno
by Zhizhong Li, Outpost staff
Facing reform of the judicial system in China, the Chinese government realizes the importance of learning from the judicial systems of other countries.
A delegation of Chinese judges was sent to explore the judicial system in Reno on in early April.
The National Judicial College, the International Resource Center and the International Visitors Council of Northern Nevada (IVC) sponsored a reception to welcome the judges.
The reception was held at the home of Leslie McHugh, director of development for the Reynolds School of Journalism.
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Photo by Zhizhong Li |
Chinese judges posed with the hosts, Riley and
Leslie McHugh.
The 11 judges were from different cities in the Jiangsu province of China. After coming to Reno, they participated in a one-week seminar with the faculty of the National Judicial College at UNR.
"The purpose of our visit is that we want to observe the judicial systems of the United States," said Zemin Cai, the head of the delegation and the vice president of Jiangsu Province Supreme Court. "We want to observe and understand the management, judicial procedure, the usage of evidence of American courts, especially the function of jury."
After a discussion with the faculty of the National Judicial College and judges in the Reno area, the Chinese delegation agreed that judges in both countries should try to understand each other better.
"I think this is a great chance for us to talk and feel directly," said Xing Tian, the vice president of Shuqian Municipal Court. "We didn't really understand the cultural background and how this kind of judicial system formed before we came here. But after the communication with the faculty and judges, we understand much more now."
Ying Li, the chief of the Bureau of Training and Education for Judges of Jiangsu Province Supreme Court, said, "After being here for three days, my feeling is we don't understand American judicial circles well, and they understand us even less."
Li thinks limited news coverage of China in the United States has caused a lack of understanding between American and Chinese judicial systems.
"During the discussion, all the information they had about the Chinese judicial system was from the major American newspapers," Li said. "You know the coverage is really limited and lopsided."
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The Chinese judgs enjoyed exchanging ideas with other guests at the reception. Photo by Zhizhong Li |
One example of the lack of understanding of the Chinese judicial system is the death sentence in China, which has long been the target of attacks from human rights advocates and American politicians.
The judges discussed the death senctence and human rights with the faculty of the National Judicial College before they went to the reception.
"Yes. We do have the death sentence, but we have very strict regulation," Tian said. "In China, only province or higher level courts can pronounce death sentence, and the criminals must be 18 years old or older."
"In the United States, some states don't have death sentence, but in those who have it, any level court can pronounce it to people at any age," Tian said.
Many people agree that the different political systems and cultural backgrounds cause the differences between the judicial systems of the two countries.
"The Chinese judicial system has a look of a variety of systems, and it is reengineering right now," said Percy R. Luney, Jr., the president of the National Judicial College. "The legal system comes from the cultural background, and we should respect it."
The Chinese judges admitted that they could still learn a lot from the American judicial system.
"The jury in American courts is a good example for us to learn from," Tian said. "We should enlarge the scope and randomization of the juror selection."
Li thinks Chinese judicial system can improve itself by learning from American judicial systme, but she does not think American judicial system is completely suitable for China.
"The United States has comparatively well developed judicial system," Li said. "We should put a long-term effort to improve Chinese judges' quality, skills and impartiality. The judicial reform in China is still in an exploring period, but we won't copy the American judicial system completely. However, we believe we can learn something from this visit."
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Posted April 12, 2000
Copyright 2000 Nevada Outpost
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