Structure of Court:General Description of Chinese Court Systems

The court system of PRC is divided into four levels: the Supreme People's Court, the Higher People's Courts, the Intermediate People's Courts and the Basic People's Courts. It also has some special courts at different levels.

The Supreme People's Court

The Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial organ of the state. it has a criminal division, a civil division, and an economic division. It may have such other divisions as it deems necessary. Generally speaking, it has jurisdiction over the following cases:

a) Cases of first instance assigned by laws and other cases that it considers it should try itself;

b) Appealed and protested cases against judgments and other orders of higher people's courts and special people's courts;

c) Protested cases filed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The Supreme People's Court supervises the work of the local people's courts at various levels as well as the special courts. "The Supreme People's court give interpretation on questions concerning specific application of laws and decrees in judicial proceedings." In reality, the practice of interpreting laws and decrees by the Supreme People's Court has developed in recent years to an extent that is called "judicial legislation". This was not previously defined in the Constitutional Law. However, the legislation does require guidance in order to fill gaps and to solve conflicts and some vagueness among the laws so that effective enforcement can be carried out by the judicial branch.

The Higher People's Courts

The Higher People's Courts are courts of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The internal structure is almost the same as that of the Supreme People's Court according to the definition of the organic Law. A higher people's court deals with cases of the first instance assigned by laws and decrees, cases of the first instance transferred from people's courts at the next lower level, cases of appeals and of protests lodged against judgments and orders of people's courts at the next lower level, and cases of protests lodged by people's procuratorates.

The Intermediate People's Court

The Intermediate People's Courts are the courts established in capitals or prefectures in the provincial level. The scope of jurisdiction by an intermediate people's court covers cases of first instance assigned by laws and decrees, cases of first instance transferred from the basic people's courts, and appealed and protested cases from the lower court.

The Basic People's Courts

The basic courts, as the lowest level, are normally located at the county, municipal districts and autonomous counties. A basic people's court may set up a number of people's tribunal according to the conditions of the locality, population and cases involved. A people's tribunal is a component of the basic people's court, and its judgments and orders are considered as judgments and orders of the basic people's court with the same legal effects. In practice, a tribunal of this nature is often set up in big town or townships where there is a concentrated population. As defined in the Organic Law, the basic people's court adjudicates all criminal and civil cases of the first instance except where the law provides otherwise. Besides trying cases, a basic people's court is also responsible for settling civil disputes, handling minor criminal cases that do not require formal handling, and directing the work of the people's mediation committees.

To let the readers have a better understanding of Chinese court hierachy, we hereby describe in detail the court structure in Beijing Municipality.

The court system in Beijing can be divided into following divisions: one Higher People's Court, three Intermediate People's Courts and eighteen regional or county Basic People's Courts as well as six basic railway-transport people's courts, which exercise judicial power with respect to administrative, civil, criminal and economic cases in accordance with laws and regulations.