• Document Number：No. 20 [2016] of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of China
• Level of Authority： Group Provisions
• Date issued：06-02-2016
• Effective Date：06-02-2016
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (General Office, CCCPC)

Notice of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of China on Issuing the Measures for Publicly Selecting Legislative Staff, Judges and Prosecutors from Lawyers and Law Experts
(No. 20 [2016] of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of China)
The committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC) of all provinces, all autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; all departments and commissions of the CPC Central Committee; the CPC leading groups (CPC committees) of all ministries and commissions of the State Council; the General Office of the CPC Central Military Commission; and the CPC leading groups of all the people's groups:
The Measures for Publicly Selecting Legislative Staff, Judges and Prosecutors from Lawyers and Law Experts, upon the consent of the leaders of the CPC Central Committee, are hereby issued to you for your compliance and implementation.
General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
June 2, 2016
Measures for Publicly Selecting Legislative Staff, Judges and Prosecutors from Lawyers and Law Experts
Article 1 These Measures are developed for the purposes of deepening the reform of the recruit system of legislative staff, judges and prosecutors and advancing the development of the regularization, specialization and professionalization of special legal teams, under the relevant requirements of the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and relevant provisions.
Article 2 The legal affairs institutions of the sanding committees of the people's congresses, which have legislative powers, the legal departments of the governments, the people's courts, and the people's procuratorates shall include the public election of legislative staff, judges, and prosecutors from eligible lawyers and law experts into the team development planning, and adopt practical measures for the implementation thereof.
Article 3 The legal affairs institutions of the sanding committees of the people's congresses, which have legislative powers, and the legal departments of the governments may, based on the need of their work, recruit a certain number of lawyers and law experts to draft laws and regulations. The people's courts and the people's procuratorates shall make the selection of judges and prosecutors from lawyers and law experts a routine and a system.
Article 4 The people's courts and the people's procuratorates, during the recruitment and selection judges and prosecutors, shall, based on the actual work, reserve an appropriate number of offices for the public selection of judges and prosecutors from lawyers and law experts.
Article 5 The following principles shall apply to the public selection:
(1) administration of officials by the CPC;
(2) possessing both moral integrity and professional competence, with priority given to the former;
(3) specialization and professionalization; and
(4) openness, impartiality, competition and merit-based selection,
Article 6 Lawyers to be publicly selected shall meet the basic conditions for the assumption of offices as provided by Civil Servant Law, Judges Law, and Public Procurators Law, and satisfy the following requirements:
(1) support of the party's leadership and loyalty to the Constitution and laws;
(2) firm faith in socialist rule of law and good professional ethics;
(3) ability to handle cases independently, rich experience in practice, or thorough understanding of overseas legal system and experience in successfully handling international legal affairs, or proficiency in legal practice in some special professional fields; and
(4) a minimum of 5 years of practice and a good professional reputation.
Article 7 Law experts to be publicly selected shall meet the conditions for the assumption of offices as provided by Civil Servant Law, Judges Law, and Public Procurators Law, and satisfy the following requirements:
(1) support of the party's leadership and loyalty to the Constitution and laws;
(2) firm faith in socialist rule of law, excellent teachers' ethics and academic conduct, and integrity;
(3) voluntary implementation of the theories of rule of law of the socialism with Chinese characteristics, and good connection between theories and the actuality; and
(4) the title as a lecturer or above, a minimum of 5 years of teaching or scientific research, outstanding research ability and excellent research results, and experience in legal practice being preferrable.
Article 8 Under any of the following circumstances, no lawyer or law expert shall participate in public selection:
(1) being under criminal punishment, or being dismissed or expelled for violation of laws and disciplines, or having practice license revoked;
(2) having behaviors obstructing judicial justice;
(3) being under penalty or punishment for violation of professional ethics, academic ethics, practice disciplines or codes of practice;
(4) having been sanctioned according to CPC disciplines and government disciplines;
(5) under examination with case unclosed for being suspected of violations of laws and disciplines;
(6) having spouse emigrating abroad (overseas), or having no spouse but having children emigrating abroad (overseas); or
(7) any other circumstance where no office of legislative staff, judge or prosecutor shall be assumed as provided by laws and regulations.
Article 9 The public servant competent authorities shall, together with the legal affairs institutions of the standing committees of the people's congresses, which have legislative powers, the legal departments of the governments, the people's courts, and the people's procuratorates, within the staffing quota, make public selection plans and implementation plans, and specify the offices, conditions and procedures for the public selection.
Article 10 The examination and evaluation of the ability and quality of participants in the open selection shall be scientific and regulated, and shall prioritize ability and quality, professional ethics, actual job achievements and consistent performance. The lawyers' associations and law societies in the places where the entities the participants in the public selection work with are located shall, on the basis of fully listening to the opinions of the entities the participants in the public selection work with, and relevant professionals, offer specific evaluation opinions on the political attitude, professional ability and conduct and integrity of participants in the public selection.
Article 11 Judge or prosecutor selection committees shall be responsible for the evaluation of the professional ability of the shortlisted judge or prosecutor candidates. The legal affairs institutions of the standing committees of the people's congresses, which have legislative powers, and the legal departments of the governments may organize persons in charge of the relevant business departments, experts, scholars, and lawyers to assess the professional ability of the shortlisted candidates. An evaluation shall be conducted by consulting the parties' archive, the files of the cases they handled, their theses and books, interview, or other means.
Article 12 Public selection shall be supervised by the public. Organization and discipline inspection and supervision departments shall accept relevant reports in a timely manner, and handle them according to the prescribed powers and procedures.
Article 13 Where lawyers and law experts have been selected as legislative staff, judges and prosecutors, they shall not hold the shares of unlisted company under prohibitive provisions applying to functionaries of state authorities; and they shall not work concurrently with enterprises, law firms or profit institutions.
If lawyers and law experts have been selected as legislative staff, judges and prosecutors, and, in the jurisdiction of the people's courts and people's procuratorates where they are to assume offices, their parents, spouses, or children establish and run law firms, work as lawyers or engage in forensic appraisal, judicial auction sale and other occupations relating to judicial activities, they shall, according to the requirement of disqualification from positions, no longer work as the founders or partners of law firms, or quit shares, or adjust their work.
If, within the one-year probation period, they fail to, according to the requirement of this Article, quit the work as the founders or partners of law firms, or quit shares, or adjust their work, they shall be deemed as unqualified and shall not be employed.
Article 14 Law experts shall be encouraged to assume temporary offices for learning purpose at the legal affairs institutions of the standing committees of the people's congresses, the legal department of governments, the people's courts and the people's procuratorates. The aforesaid entities shall create conditions for law experts to assume temporary offices for learning purpose.
Article 15 In respect of lawyers and law experts selected as legislative staff, judges and prosecutors, their offices, ranks and remuneration shall be determined by reference to personnel with the same qualifications and record of service at the entities where they hold offices.
Article 16 These Measures shall be subject to interpretation by the Political and Judiciary Commission under the CPC Central Committee.
Article 17 These Measures shall come into force as of June 2, 2016.