6th China Judicial Forum of Tianjin University Held

On October 17, 2020, the Sixth China Judicial Forum of Tianjin University, hosted by the Judicial Branch of the Chinese Academy of Behavioral Law and undertaken by the Law School of Tianjin University, was successfully held on Tianjin University’s Weijin Road Campus. The opening ceremony was presided by Sun Youhai, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Behavioral Law, Vice President of the Judicial Branch and Secretary General of the association, and Dean of Tianjin University’s Law School.

Lei Ming, the vice party secretary of Tianjin University attended the forum and delivered a speech. She pointed out that the establishment of the Judicial Branch of the Chinese Academy of Behavioral Law marked the regular practice of academic research and communication among different judicial professional groups.

Lei Ming said that over the past five years, the Branch had successfully held five sessions of the "China Judicial Forum", co-organized important academic activities with many organizations, and formed a series of institutional reform proposal reports, which have achieved fruitful results. The Judicial Forum of Tianjin University has become a brand activity of Tianjin University's Law School, and has played an increasingly imperative role in promoting judicial reform in Tianjin and even in China. The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China is the first law named "Code" since the foundation of the new China, and it is a weighty achievement in the construction of the socialist rule of law in China in the new era, “To implement the Civil Code will become a ‘great propeller’ for modernizing national governance system and capacity,” Lei said.

Lei Ming stressed that the Sixth China Judicial Forum of Tianjin University was held to discuss the Civil Code and a series of related issues such as diversified dispute settlement, legal services, case retrieval, enforcement, public interest litigation, etc. in a scientific and rational manner, and to provide suggestions for the modernization and development of China's judicial capacity. “Tianjin University Law School will also provide stronger support and guarantee for the future operation of the Judicial Branch of the Chinese Academy of Behavioral Law.”

Gao Zhen, the Vice president of Tianjin Higher People's court, mentioned that the Civil Code is a fundamental legal norm to ensure the effective operation of state institution and national governance system, and the modernization of the trial system and trial capacity is an important part of the modernization of China's governance system and capacity. The Civil Code is a systematic revision and compilation of the existing single civil laws, a comprehensive summary of China's civil legislation and judicial experience, a scientific and standardized correction and integration of inappropriate conflicts and missing legal provisions, and the incorporation of many conflicting systems into the law to fill in the gaps and make it more convenient for judges to use and interpret the law when hearing cases.

Gao said, “It is a fundamental symbol of the modernization of the trial system and trial capability, and an important measure to promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capability.” He stated that in recent years, the Tianjin High People's Court had pushed forward the reform of the judicial system, insisted on the deep integration of trial and execution work with modern technology, and vigorously promoted the construction and application of wisdom courts. Especially in response to the demand for epidemic prevention and control this year, the Tianjin High People's Court has developed online filing, cross filing services, electronic delivery, online security, online court sessions, online mediation, video reception and so on. With the promotion and implementation of the Civil Code as the focus, the court has organized seminars learning about the Civil Code.

“We are facing many new situations and new problems, in the process of promoting the modernization of judicial capacity, for example, the lack of timely and thorough theoretical research on the Civil Code and other laws, and the urgent need for some judges to update and improve their trial philosophy and trial ability. Information technology construction is not responsive enough to the needs of judicial practice, and there is still a long way to go in reforming the trial-centered litigation system,” said Gao Zhen, adding that the Court would continue to promote the comprehensive reform of the judicial system and continue to promote the modernization of the trial capacity, striving to let the people feel justice in every judicial case and make positive contributions to the development and progress of socialist justice with Chinese characteristics.

Sun Youhai, Dean of the Law School announced winners of the Sixth China Justice Forum of Tianjin University. This year, there were three first prizes, six second prizes, fifteen third prizes, and forty excellence prizes.

During the stage of keynote lectures and seminars, experts gave lectures on the implementation of the Civil Code, the jurisprudence of the multiple dispute settlement mechanism, the specialization of trial work and trial capacity, the judicial application of the administrative provisions in the Civil Code, and other issues.

By Wu Wei from the Law School

Editor: Eva Yin