| ID | 158260 |
| Title Proper | Towards judicial transparency in China |
| Other Title Information | the new public access database for court decisions |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Ahl, Bjorn |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Since 2013 judicial reforms in China have intensified. While recent studies of the Chinese judiciary have focused on structural reforms concerning the jurisdiction of courts and internal court management, it has largely gone unnoticed that the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has established an open-access database archiving the decisions of every court in China. On the basis of legal documents, secondary literature and interviews with experts, this study investigates the implications of the new database. We find that the database establishes new channels of communication that affect the relationship between the courts and the public, and the position of judges within the judiciary. Further, the open-access database facilitates changes in the structure of communication among legal experts, which in turn promotes legal professionalism. We argue that the SPC made use of the party policy on the direct accountability of the courts towards the people in order to pursue its institutional interest in a professional judiciary. |
| `In' analytical Note | China Information Vol. 32, No.1; Mar 2018: p.3-22 |
| Journal Source | China Information 2018-01 32, 1 |
| Key Words | Judicial Reform ; Judicial Transparency ; Supreme People’s Court (SPC) ; Court Decision Database ; Legal Professionalism |