The people’s courts of the People’s Republic of China are the adjudicatory organs of the state.
The People’s Republic of China shall establish a Supreme People’s Court and local people’s courts at all levels, military courts and other special people’s courts.
The president of the Supreme People’s Court shall have the same term of office as that of the National People’s Congress and shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.
The organization of the people’s courts shall be prescribed by law.
Except in special circumstances as prescribed by law, all cases in the people’s courts shall be tried in public. The accused shall have the right to defense.
The people’s courts shall, in accordance with the provisions of law, independently exercise adjudicatory power, and shall not be subject to interference from any administrative organ, social organization or individual.
The Supreme People’s Court is the highest adjudicatory organ.
The Supreme People’s Court shall oversee the adjudicatory work of local people’s courts at all levels and of special people’s courts; people’s courts at higher levels shall oversee the adjudicatory work of those at lower levels.
The Supreme People’s Court shall be responsible to the National People’s Congress and the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Local people’s courts at all levels shall be responsible to the state organs of power that created them.
The people’s procuratorates of the People’s Republic of China are the legal oversight organs of the state.
The People’s Republic of China shall establish a Supreme People’s Procuratorate, local people’s procuratorates at all levels, military procuratorates and other special people’s procuratorates.
The procurator general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate shall have the same term of office as that of the National People’s Congress and shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.
The organization of the people’s procuratorates shall be prescribed by law.
The people’s procuratorates shall, in accordance with the provisions of law, independently exercise procuratorial power, and shall not be subject to interference from any administrative organ, social organization or individual.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate is the highest procuratorial organ.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate shall direct the work of local people’s procuratorates at all levels and of special people’s procuratorates; people’s procuratorates at higher levels shall direct the work of those at lower levels.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate shall be responsible to the National People’s Congress and the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Local people’s procuratorates at all levels shall be responsible to the state organs of power that created them and to the people’s procuratorates at higher levels.
Citizens of all ethnic groups shall have the right to use their own ethnic group’s spoken and written languages in court proceedings. The people’s courts and the people’s procuratorates should provide translation services for any party to court proceedings who does not have a good command of the spoken or written languages commonly used in the locality.
In areas inhabited by people of an ethnic minority or by a number of ethnic groups living together, court hearings should be conducted in the language or languages commonly used in the locality; indictments, judgments, notices and other documents should be written in the language or languages commonly used in the locality according to actual needs.
In handling criminal cases, the people’s courts, the people’s procuratorates and public security organs should each be responsible for their respective tasks, work together with each other, and act as checks on each other to ensure the faithful and effective enforcement of the law.