New interns ready to join top court

Niu Yang, an intern in the first group, said he was excited to earn a place at the top court in a competitive process.

"More than 100 people applied for the intern opportunities within three days last year after our college posted the recruitment notice," said Niu, a third-year doctoral student majoring in law at the University of International Business and Economics.

About 60 percent of applicants were eliminated during a review process, and about 50 students were granted interviews with the university principal, said Niu, who was selected as an intern at the top court's civil tribunal.

"All candidates were later reviewed by the top court," he said.

Ran Rong, a court official who mentors the interns, said they worked as clerks initially, recording case hearings and learning how the court works.

"Recording is a good way to find out how a judge thinks about a case, how a prosecutor accuses defendants and how a defense lawyer operates, which is a must in being a judge," said Ran, who often handles the court's reviews in death penalty cases.

"No matter what roles the interns play — lawyers or prosecutors — the ability to discern problems in legal documents is a necessity and something they cannot learn in college," she added.

Xia Junli, another intern mentor at the top court's civil tribunal, said the second group of law students should be educated in line with what they are learning in college.

"The interns can experience the responsibilities judges should take and how dignified we are in case hearings, which they cannot learn from books," she said.