Judges cannot be both referees and players

OFFICIALS OF THE LOCAL COURT AND PROCURATORATE in Lulong county, North China's Hebei province, attended a recent training session on attracting investments to boost the local economy that was sponsored by the local government, less than a week after the Supreme People's Court officially prohibited their involvement in attracting investment. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Wednesday:

The Lulong government defended the training session as necessary so the judges would be better able to mediate cases, but the judicial officials' presence at a training session aimed at attracting investment is questionable.

It has to be made clear that administrative matters, ranging from attracting investment to urban relocation programs that often involve the demolition of resident's homes, are the concern of local governments and it is the judicial departments' job to make sure the cases brought to trial are fairly and properly dealt with.