Jiangxi Judges Warmly Receive U.S. Consul General Wuhan and U.S. Embassy Officers

October 16-20, 2009:  As part of Consulate General Wuhan’s rule of law outreach activities, Consul General Wendy Lyle teamed up with U.S. Embassy’s Resident Legal Advisor Amy Chang Lee and two Embassy officers, Meredith Sumpter and Pablo Quintanilla, to visit Jiujiang Intermediate Court on October 16.  Led by Deputy Director Ye Ping and three court officials, the U.S. delegation toured the civil and criminal courts, and held a round table discussion session with Chinese representatives.   The U.S. delegation engaged Jiujiang Intermediate Court judges on U.S. Embassy outreach programs, visa issues, and the possibility of future information and training exchanges.  The animated discussion focused on the distinction in the U.S. between federal and state courts, the process of jury selection, the use of independent counsels, plea negotiations, court procedures and services, training of judges, selection of jury members, and media coverage of court trials.   The Jiujiang Court employs over 170 judges and handles over 10,000 court cases per year, mostly civil and commercial disputes.   Most of the criminal cases are appeals from lower courts.  Compared to U.S. courts, the Chinese courts have a larger role in encouraging civil case settlement, with over 90% of civil cases are returned by the judge to the people to resolve. The Jiujiang Intermediate Court provides on-line legal services to citizens and encourages its subordinate courts to provide up-do-date legal information via their respective web sites.            

U.S. delegation in front of the Jiujiang Court, which shares civil trail proceedings with citizens via Internet

On October 17 and 18, the U.S. delegates attended the opening ceremonies of the Jingdezhen International Pottery and Porcelain Exhibition and toured the site of a prefecture judicial court used during imperial times.

On October 19, the U.S. delegation visited Jiangxi High Court in Nanchang and met with a team of seven Chinese high court judges led by Director Zhang Zhonghou and Deputy Director Hu Shuzhu.  Director Zhang introduced the province and its court system.  The U.S. delegates spent considerable time with Jiangxi High Court judges discussing visa policy as well as the Embassy’s and Consulate General’s exchange, training, and outreach programs, highlighting the benefit of such programs in deepening mutual understanding of the U.S.’ and China’s respective legal systems and legal cooperation.  Director Zhang noted that Jiangxi High Court judges had visited the US through the China’s Supreme People’s Court, and welcomed future opportunity for visits and exchanges.  The criminal division judge said that they would be interested in exchanges with the US on legal reform, anti-corruption, narcotics and organized crime prosecutions.   Jiangxi High Court employs over 300 judges and administers 99 primary courts and 12 intermediate courts in the province.  Collectively, the courts handle over 170,000 legal cases per year, including 120,000 civil cases.  

U.S. delegation engaged Chinese judges at Jiangxi High Court to exchange ideas