Minister of Justice outlines achievements of judicial administration reform

Zhang Jun (middle), minister of justice, answers questions at a press conference given by the State Council Information Office. [Photo/ Legal Daily]

Zhang Jun, China’s minister of justice, outlined the achievements of judicial administration reform at a press conference on Dec 1.

Judicial administration covers a wide range of areas and is an important part of judicial reform, according to Zhang.

As far as judicial expertise reform is concerned, Zhang indicated that the Ministry of Justice has increased its attention to that matter to solve problems of inconsistency in expertise.

He also introduced progress related to notarial services, saying that in August notary organizations were transformed from government departments into public institutions to provide better services.

Concerning the system of lawyer governance, Zhang said that more should be done to protect lawyers’ rights, such as having judicial departments, procuratorates and courts set up a joint conference system to solve often ignored problems in that area.

As regards lawyer discipline, Zhang emphasized that full play should be given to lawyer associations. Some lawyers have been punished according to regulations of the association while others have received administrative penalties from the Ministry of Justice.

“Punishment itself is not sufficient. We also publish the punishment of lawyers to let the people know that they should pay the price for their illegal behavior,” Zhang said.

Zhang also indicated that as regards prison system reform, the Ministry of Justice is prepared to widen the experimental programs of twenty pilot prisons to seventeen provinces throughout China.