June 2010
On May 19, a delegation of five high-ranking members of China’s judiciary visited the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in Washington, D.C. Organized by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China, the delegation was in the U.S. to learn about judicial reform efforts in the United States. It was led by SPC Vice President Justice Jing Hanchao and included senior judges from Hunan, Heilongjiang, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the SPC’s Judicial Reform Office.
Led by SPC Vice President Justice Jing Hanchao, the Chinese delegation included senior judges from Hunan, Heilongjiang, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the SPC’s Judicial Reform Office.
American Bar Association (ABA) Executive Director Jack Rives welcomed the delegation via a live video-conference feed from ABA headquarters in Chicago. Rives briefly outlined the ABA’s history of institutional support to U.S. judges. Following remarks by Justice Jing and ABA ROLI Director Rob Boone, Peter M. Koelling, director and chief counsel of the ABA’s Justice Center, gave a presentation on U.S. judicial system reform, covering judicial selection, campaign funding, court funding, judicial independence and ethics, and alternative dispute resolution.
The delegation expressed particular interest in the hybridity of state court funding in the U.S. and its impact on judicial independence and efficiency. Koelling noted that while the trend in the U.S. is towards unitary state funding to achieve greater systemic efficiency, many states continue to share court funding responsibilities with local counties. The Chinese delegation said that court funding is one of the key issues in judicial reform efforts in China.
To learn more about our work in China, contact the ABA Rule of Law Initiative at rol@americanbar.org.
Training, Manual Help El Salvador’s Criminal Justice Actors Process Clandestine Cemeteries
Moroccan Civil Society Advances Constitutional Rights
Mock Trial Training Introduces Ukrainian Police Cadets to Adversarial Criminal Justice System
Training Helps Lawyers Transition to an Accusatorial Criminal Justice System
