BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers voiced their support for the second draft of the law on people's assessors during panel discussions at the ongoing bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.
The draft law states that Chinese citizens aged 28 or older who have received a high school education or higher can be selected as assessors, who will "have equal rights" as judges in trials, unless the law specifically provides otherwise.
"The people's assessors system demonstrates judicial democracy. These assessors promote justice with their extensive social experience and the law itself is like a collection and summary of social practice," legislator Wang Shengming said during the discussions.
NPC member Li Bingji agreed and pointed out the life experience of the assessors, along with the professional knowledge of the judges, helps secure justice in court.
Some lawmakers suggested an upper age limit and continuous training for assessors during the panel discussion.
The draft was first submitted to NPC Standing Committee last December. The legislation was based on an NPC Standing Committee decision in 2004 to improve the use of people's assessors and a pilot program in 10 provincial-level regions starting in 2015.
According to a report on the pilot program delivered by Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, to the NPC Standing Committee Wednesday, a total of 13,740 assessors had participated in the pilot program as of April.
People's assessors have participated in hearings on 30,659 criminal cases, 178,749 civil cases, and 11,846 administrative cases in the regions since the pilot program started in 2015, said Zhou.
The bimonthly session of the top legislature will run until Friday.
