Judicial reformers weigh their options

New changes should be advanced through pilot programs, experts say

With expectations that the central government will soon issue its long-awaited outline on broad judicial reforms, deputies at the National People's Congress in Beijing are quickly trying to pinpoint what measures to take to implement the plan.

In November, the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China discussed the key areas of judicial reform they wanted to tackle at the Third Plenary Session, including making prosecutors more responsible for their cases, imposing harsher punishments for prosecutors or courts that violate the law and creating a unified system to manage court employees and their properties.