China top Legislators have been engaged in heat discussion over an application by the Supreme People's Court to extend a pilot program on how Chinese juries are selected.The application, submitted on April 24, 2017 to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, states there are problems with the ongoing two-year pilot program that need solving.
The pilot program was launched in April 2015 at 50 courts in 10 provincial regions, including Beijing, Chongqing and the provinces of Hebei and Shandong. It aims to increase public participation in legal proceedings and improve the standing of court rulings by selecting more jurors at random and from different walks of life.
Different from the US system, in which jurors are randomly selected, jurors in China have previously been chosen from candidates recommended by local authorities and committees.
The draft will continue to be discussed at the bimonthly session, which ends on April 27.