The Judiciary Should Not be Popularized (Excerpts)

• Author: Zhang Qianfan

Some people in the legal field believe that judicial trials have become overly subjected to public opinion, which will lead to “trials by popular opinion” that affect the integrity of judicial decisions. But under many circumstances, I think that even if popular opinion becomes more intense, its usefulness cannot begin to compare with the power of the influence of a phone call by an authority from a higher level or even from the same-level court department. In other words, I believe that the popularization of the judiciary is an empty and artificial topic for discussion.

Indeed, popularization and public opinion in and of itself is not frightening. Rather, what should be feared is the popularization of interference in court trials by political power. To be even more clear, what I am referring to is the politicization of the judiciary. Over the course of a long period of time, “popularization of political interference into court trials” has usually operated under the auspices of the “people’s opinion.” In reality, it is political power that is doing the talking. What the judicial reform must seek to change is this sort of popularization of political interference into...