Nearly Half of Provincial High Court Presidents No Judicial Experience

全国高院院长近一半系党政领导出身

Southern Weekend, 2009-07-20

Of the 30 currently-serving provincial (including directly-controlled municipalities and autonomous regions) high court presidents, 14 have career backgrounds in only non-judicial “Party and government leadership.” The president of the Henan high court, Zhang Liyong, for example, served as a village branch secretary, state-owned ocean fishery employee, and both mayor and Party secretary of Xianyang, Shanxi, before being assigned Party secretary and then president of the court. Several of the non-judicial career track presidents have law-related academic degrees: An Dong, head of the Shanxi high court, has a PhD in “constitutional and administrative science.” 14 other presidents have “standard judicial career track” backgrounds, while another two, leaders of the Jilin and Jiangsu high courts, come directly from academia.