Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), has called on courts to further improve mechanisms for ensuring and assessing judicial justice and provide stronger judicial services and safeguards for the implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).
Zhang made these remarks while delivering a lecture at the opening ceremony of the fall semester of the National Judges College in Beijing on Sept 10.
Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People's Court, delivers a lecture at the opening ceremony of the fall semester of the National Judges College in Beijing on Sept 10. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
During the lecture, Zhang reviewed the progress and achievements made by courts in reforming judicial system and regulating the exercise of judicial power, and analyzed new developments and challenges in upholding fairness and justice.
"Properly handling cases and effectively managing the judicial workforce are fundamental to ensuring judicial justice and earning public trust," Zhang said. He called for efforts to improve the system for exercising judicial power, with a focus on key areas including the application of law, judicial transparency, judicial accountability, oversight and the use of technology. He stressed the importance of strengthening mechanisms to ensure consistent standards in the application of the law, including further developing the case database and the online Q&A platform, while making better use of the supervisory and guiding role of higher-level courts.
Greater transparency in judicial work is also needed, Zhang said, calling for efforts to use judicial openness to promote impartial justice and integrity. He stressed the need to fully implement the judicial accountability system, strengthen case review, and ensure that court and division heads effectively perform their statutory supervisory and management duties.
As digital technologies continue to transform society, courts should accelerate the development of digital courts and make greater use of technology to strengthen judicial management and regulate the exercise of judicial power, he said.
Zhang also called for measures to improve the efficiency of judicial proceedings and remove institutional barriers to judicial justice. These include optimizing litigation services, safeguarding lawyers' rights to participate in litigation, and strengthening the role of courts in the standardized development of centers for comprehensive governance, so as to better protect people's litigation rights.
Reforms should also be advanced to strengthen coordination among case filing, adjudication and enforcement, and preservation measures should be taken in accordance with the law, he said. These efforts will help improve the quality of adjudication and address difficulties at an early stage of enforcement, he added.
Zhang urged courts to uphold and develop the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era, improve mechanisms for resolving disputes through multiple channels, and strengthen efforts to prevent and resolve disputes at the source.
He also called for more precise and effective adjudication management, including improving performance assessment mechanisms in line with the principles governing judicial work.
Regarding the assessment of judicial justice, Zhang said courts should uphold legal standards while taking into account public perceptions of justice. Efforts should be made to improve mechanisms for receiving and responding to public feedback and to address legitimate concerns through lawful means, he noted. He stressed that people's experience of justice should be an important consideration in assessing judicial work. Courts should exercise judicial discretion in strict accordance with the law and strive to balance the legal, social and political effects of adjudication, he said.
He also called for sustained public legal education to raise legal awareness across society and create a sound environment for impartial justice.
Zhang emphasized that judicial fairness, consistency, and authority are essential qualities of judicial decisions. Courts should safeguard substantive and procedural justice, strengthen judicial personnel management, and ensure the impartiality of adjudication, he said.
He called for greater efforts to maintain the consistency of effective judicial decisions and strengthen public confidence in judicial authority. Judicial documents should provide clear explanations of the law and reasoning, helping litigants and the public better understand and recognize judicial decisions.
Participants in a training program for court officials and judges on promoting modernization of adjudication, and other court personnel from the Supreme People's Court and local courts attend the lecture either via video link or in person. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
Deng Xiuming, executive vice-president of the SPC, presided over the event, which was also attended by other senior officials of the SPC in Beijing.
Participants in a training program for court officials and judges on promoting modernization of adjudication, along with other court personnel from the SPC and local courts, attended the lecture either via video link or in person.
