For a fairer judiciary

JUDICIAL SYSTEM REFORM IS THE ONLY WAY that building the rule of law can turn from being a slogan into reality. The pilot moves that will be carried out on trial basis in a total of six municipalities and provinces can be expected to bring about major progress in the establishment of a relatively independent judicial mechanism.

That judges and prosecutors at county, prefecture and provincial level will be directly nominated and then appointed by a special committee at the provincial level, which will also have the power to dismiss them should they be found to be unqualified or to have abused their power, means local judicial institutions will not be so reliant on their immediate local government and thus more independent.

The importance of such local independence cannot be underestimated. Without administrative and financial reliance on a local government, judges and prosecutors will have much more autonomy to exercise their judicial power in the process of investigating and trying a case. It will also be much more difficult for local government leaders or a local government per se to exert influence on the hearing of a case.