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China The Judiciary
The State Constitution of 1982 and the Organic Law of the
People's Courts that went into effect on January 1, 1980, provide
for a four-level court system. At the highest level is the Supreme
People's Court, the premier appellate forum of the land, which
supervises the administration of justice by all subordinate "local"
and "special" people's courts. Local people's courts--the courts of
the first instance--handle criminal and civil cases. These people's
courts make up the remaining three levels of the court system and
consist of "higher people's courts" at the level of the provinces,
autonomous regions, and special municipalities; "intermediate
people's courts" at the level of prefectures, autonomous
prefectures, and municipalities; and "basic people's courts" at the
level of autonomous counties, towns, and municipal districts
(see Court Structure and Process
, ch. 13).
In April 1986, at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National
People's Congress, the General Principles of the Civil Code was
approved as "one of China's basic laws." Consisting of more than
150 articles, the code is intended to regulate China's internal and
external economic relations to establish a stable base conducive to
trade and attractive to foreign investors. Many of its provisions
define the legal status of economic entities and the property
rights they exercise. The code clearly stipulates that private
ownership of the means of production is protected by law and may
not be seized or interfered with by any person or organization. It
also recognizes partnerships and wholly foreign-owned or
joint-venture enterprises
(see Reform of the Economic System, Beginning in 1979
, ch. 5).
Data as of July 1987
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