Original
The Afterlife of Problem Judgments: Case Review, Discipline and Judicial Accountability in China
Abstract
Abstract This article examines the reality of “let the adjudicator judge” by investigating how Chinese judges are held accountable for their judgments under the expanded ex post case review system. We examine the first three years of the implementation of this headline initiative in a grassroots court (Court T) located in a major city in China. Our data include the internal quarterly reports produced by the court’s case review committee and interviews with judges. The assessments went beyond legal analysis, commenting on matters such as work ethic, diligence and moral sensibilities. Frontline judges view the review system as subjective and arbitrary. The new mechanism, however, alters the power dynamics between senior judges and their subordinates. While frontline judges no longer require pre-approval from senior judges, they rely on the goodwill of those same seniors to navigate the review process. Within this ostensibly freer framework, frontline judges are subjected to a more diffuse but pervasive form of discipline. Our analysis reveals how the adjudication committee, far from being sidelined, has shifted its role, concentrating ex ante supervision on a minority of difficult cases while holding judges accountable through ex post reviews of flawed judgments. The article further underscores the challenges of disentangling legal analysis from political supervision in a framework of authoritative legality.
中文
问题裁判的“身后事”：中国的案件评查、纪律与司法问责
摘要
摘要 本文通过考察中国法官在扩大的事后案件评查制度下如何为其裁判承担责任，检视“让审理者裁判”的现实。我们考察这一标志性举措在中国某大城市一家基层法院（T法院）实施的头三年。数据包括该院案件评查委员会编制的内部季度报告以及对法官的访谈。评查评估超越了法律分析，还就职业道德、勤勉程度和道德感受力等事项作出评论。一线法官认为评查制度主观且任意。然而，新机制改变了资深法官与其下属之间的权力动态。尽管一线法官不再需要资深法官的事前批准，但他们在应对评查过程中仍依赖这些资深法官的善意。在这一表面上更自由的框架内，一线法官受到一种更为弥散但无处不在的纪律约束。我们的分析揭示，审判委员会远未被边缘化，而是转变了角色：将事前监督集中于少数疑难案件，同时通过事后评查有瑕疵的裁判来追究法官责任。本文进一步强调，在权威法治框架内将法律分析与政治监督相分离所面临的挑战。
关键词
中国司法、司法问责、案件评查、基层法院、审判委员会、法官纪律、权威法治、事后监督