Law of the People's Republic of China on the Organization of the People's Courts (Amended in 2006)

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Organization of the People's Courts (Amended in 2006)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No. 59

October 31, 2006

(Adopted at the Second Session of the Fifth National Congress on July 1, 1979, promulgated by Order No.3 of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on July 5, 1979 and effective as of January 1, 1980; and amended in accordance with the Decisions of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on Amending the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Organization of the People's Courts adopted at its 2nd Meeting on September 2, 1983, the Decisions of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on Amending the Organic Law of the Local People's Congresses and the Local People's Governments of the People's Republic of China adopted at its 18th Meeting on December 2, 1986 and the Decisions of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on Amending the Organic Law of the People's Courts of the People's Republic of China adopted at its 24th Meeting on October 31, 2006)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 The people's courts of the People's Republic of China are the judicial organs of the State.

Article 2 The judicial authority of the People's Republic of China is exercised by the following people's courts:
1. local people's courts at various levels;
2. military courts and other special people's courts and;
3. the Supreme People's Court.
The local people's courts at various levels are divided into: primary people's courts, intermediate people's courts and higher people's courts.

Article 3 The task of the people's courts is to try criminal and civil cases and, through judicial activities, to punish all criminals and settle civil disputes, so as to safeguard the system of dictatorship of the proletariat, maintain the socialist legal system and public order, protect socialist property owned by the entire people, collective property owned by working people and the legitimate private property of citizens, the citizens' right of the person and their democratic and other rights, and ensure the smooth progress of the socialist revolution and socialist construction in the country.
The people's courts, in all their activities, educate citizens in loyalty to their socialist motherland and voluntary observance of the Constitution and laws.

Article 4 The people's courts shall exercise judicial power independently, in accordance with the provisions of law, and shall not be subject to interference by any administrative organ, public organization or individual.

Article 5 In judicial proceedings in the people's courts, the law is applied equally to all citizens, regardless of ethnic status, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status or length of residence. No privilege whatsoever is allowed.

Article 6 Citizens of all nationalities have the right to use the spoken and written languages of their own nationalities in court proceedings. The people's courts shall provide translation for any party to the court proceedings who is not familiar with the spoken or written languages commonly used in the locality. In an area where people of a minority nationality live in concentrated communities or where a number of minority nationalities live together, the people's courts shall conduct hearings in the languages commonly used in the locality and issue judgments, notices and other documents in the languages commonly used in the locality.

Article 7 All cases in the people's courts shall be heard in public, except for the ones involving State secrets, individual privacy and the crimes committed by minors.

Article 8 The accused has the right to defence. Besides defending himself, the accused has the right to delegate a lawyer to defend him.
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