Compared with other Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, there is less discussion on civic participation in a court system of China. In point of fact, the system of civic engagement in trials has always been an important issue in the process of the cross-strait judicial reform. Nowadays, both sides of the Taiwan Strait have developed their own specific laws to regulate a citizen’s participation in a judicial system with the difference being that the Taiwanese system has not come into force yet. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share similar purposes on the development of jury systems. According to the National Judge Act enacted in 2020, the purpose of implementing a lay judge system in Taiwan is to promote judicial transparency and to enhance citizens’ understanding and trust in judiciary. Whereas, as specified in the People’s Assessors Law, the purpose of implementing the people’s jury system in China is to promote judicial justice and to enhance judicial credibility.
A well-regulated selection system is the key factor throughout civic participation in a trial. A selection process can be divided into different phases like a stage play: becoming an actor with proper qualifications, undergoing selection procedures, and dismissing from the final play. The performance content in the first act mainly presents the positive and negative qualifications required to serve as a lay judge, and then the selection procedure shows the process of producing individual lay judge. Lastly, the removal of posts shows the way how a lay judge withdraws from a trial.
Before the People’s Assessor Law was enacted in China, citizens’ participation in trials had been practiced for many years, and the problems encountered in the past practices were drawn on the legislative process of the People’s Assessor Law. Taiwan and China have similarities in the design of the selection system of national judges and people’s assessors, but the specific contents are different. This article will introduce the selection systems of lay judges on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and compare each other to conclude advice on the selection systems of lay judges in Taiwan and China.
