Curious villagers pack the periphery of a country yard. In the centre, two farmers debate before a plainly-dressed judge, who sits on a small stool taking notes. Hours later, he declares a ruling on the dispute.

This might represent the general public's stereotyped portrait of China's circuit court -- a unique grass-roots judicial system that employs bare-bones litigation to address civil suits in remote rural areas.

But a grander circuit court scheme could be in the offing, a scheme based on the Supreme People's Court creating several smaller versions of itself nationwide to handle major local cases.

In a departure from the supreme court's practice of making judicial directives, realizing such a scheme is crucial to building the framework of a more powerful judiciary.

"When two parties in a civil case are from different places, the court sometimes pampers the home party," said Xu Hao, a Beijing-based lawyer.

Localism has become a big problem in the conduct of civil trials -- a practice that is widely criticized but shows no sign of abating. Some local governments have even been known to intervene in litigation when local interests are involved.

"A circuit tribunal posted by the supreme court is supposed to be highly independent in trans-regional suits so that it can eradicate local bias and ensure fair results," said Xu.

Although the supreme court circuits may not be able to address myriads of small cases, experts believe their work will exemplify the impartiality of the judicial sector.

And when it comes to criminal cases, the performance of circuit courts could make the difference between life and death.

China's criminal procedure requires intermediate courts to hear cases that could lead to imposing a death penalty, and higher courts to hear a retrial if an appeal is lodged. Every death sentence must be reviewed by the supreme court to help avoid wrongful executions.

But with a limited number of presiding judges, the supreme court will transfer the review of death sentences in some cases concerning offences of violence, such as homicide and arson, to higher courts in the provinces concerned, according to the law on court organization.

In addition to enhancing the court's clout in specific cases, circuit courts offer something even more essential: greater independence for the judiciary.

"Circuit courts embody the idea of cutting off judicial bodies' ties with local interests, which is a big flaw in our judicial system," said He Weifang, a Peking University law professor.

The Constitution entitles local people's congresses to form local courts, which report to local congresses and are financed by local governments.

"This methodology inevitably causes localization of judicial power, which means a judge's concern for local interests could outweigh concern for justice," said He, adding that every court should "ideally" be manned, funded, and administrated by its superior court to prevent outside influences.

Some also suggest that local courts be established without overlapping administrative districts to maintain neutrality.

But such bold changes are not likely to take place in the near future, as they will require an amendment to the Constitution and a host of other codes, as well as a new financing network independent of legislative or government bodies.

Procuratorates, those responsible for supervising the courts, should also be reformed accordingly.

"Circuit courts are an acceptable scenario to all sides under current circumstances," said Ma Huaide, a law professor with China University of Political Science and Law.

In particular, as representative agencies of the supreme court, circuit courts do not need revision of the law to legitimize them, said Ma.

Although not a thorough cure to the problem of so-called "localization" of judicial power, experts believe the supreme circuit court scheme will be a big initiative towards further judicial reforms.

The Communist Party of China has demonstrated increasing concern over the efficiency of the judicial sector in recent years, with calls for "improving judicial bodies' set-up, division of functions and management" and "separating judicial and procuratoral work from administrative affairs step by step."

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, has added the revision of procedural codes, including criminal, civil and administrative procedures, into its law-amending agenda to guarantee fairness in the process of litigation.

The feasibility of the circuit court plan is now under study within the Supreme People's Court.

It is still premature to predict the impact of such a major move.

"I think the creation of circuit courts will be a valuable step in judicial reform. But challenges are also obvious considering the daunting demand for money and personnel," said Zhu Baocheng, an official with the supreme court.

"The supreme court has to tread very carefully on the issue, which will be far more complicated than the existing travelling tribunals at the grass roots," he said.

(China Daily February 13, 2004)