Judges and public prosecutors will have to pass a national judicial
qualification exam before holding a post in judicial organs,
according to draft amendments to the laws on judges and
prosecutors.
The two draft amendments are now under legislative scrutiny by
national legislators attending the 21st session of the Ninth
National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
“It is a major step to help promote the professional quality of
judges and public prosecutors,” said legislator Chen Mingshu during
panel discussion of the national legislators yesterday.
“The examination will also help improve judicial fairness and
efficiency when the judges and public prosecutors become more
capable,” Chen added.
The national bar examination, which was put in place in 1986, will
be incorporated into the national judicial qualification
examination, according to the draft legislations.
The exam will be organized by the Supreme People’s Court, the
Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Justice.
But legislator Nie Li argued that it is better to require the
National People’s Congress to organize such an examination because
judicial organs are chosen by the top legislative body.
In
other developments, the national legislators decided to designate
September 7 every year as the National Defence Education Day, which
will be written in the draft national defence education law.
The draft law is expected to be passed on Saturday when the session
ends.
(China Daily 04/27/2001)