By Susan Finder
Zhang Jun has been the president of the Chinese Supreme People’s Court (SPC) since March 2023, and his priorities and policy preferences are starting to come into focus. What do we know about Zhang, and where is he likely to take the SPC?
Zhang, 67, has had a long career in China’s post-Cultural Revolution legal system, starting as an SPC clerk in 1985. He was promoted to a judge and then to more senior roles. He also has hands-on experience working in many of the most important institutions related to the SPC, including the Ministry of Justice, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party (the Party), and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP). He has spent decades involved in legal policy, particularly criminal law-related policy.
Court insiders with historical memories concerning the SPC’s foreign (??) interactions on judicial reform issues recall Zhang’s interest in learning how other legal systems approach similar problems. So it can be assumed that in addition to a deep understanding of how the Chinese legal system operates and its many challenges, he likely has more than a little knowledge of foreign legal institutions. He knows well the Party leadership’s vision for the role of legal institutions, including the courts, and the gap between the vision and reality.
Chinese judges at all four levels of the Chinese court system with whom I have been in touch shared this assessment of Zhang: he is pragmatic (??).
Chinese judges at all four levels of the Chinese court system with whom I have been in touch shared this assessment of Zhang: he is pragmatic (??). All have noticed changes in judicial policy since he took office. Below are five significant new directions for judicial policy, based on my early observations.
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https://usali.org/usali-perspectives-blog/new-directions-for-the-supreme-peoples-court
