司法改革的顶层设计及其推进策略

Judicial Reform: Top Layer Designing and Implementation Strategies

中国司法改革多年来没有实质性进展。时至今日,实质性司法改革,都不可能再脱离政治体制改革单独推进。法治改革是最容易达成共识、成本最低、最安全、风险最小、最能避免动荡的政治体制改革切入点。法治改革以司法改革为核心。根据顶层设计的路线图,司法改革应当首先把握方向,完善路径,寻求改革破口。依宪治图、民主和法治是大势所趋,理应成为中国未来发展的方向。司法改革路径,应强调由顶层到基础、由国家到地方、由中央到基层的改革路向。具体方案可以概括为:五对关系,六个保障。五对关系是基础性构架,六个保障是关键性支撑,两者筋骨相连,相辅相成。

For many years, China’ s judicial reform made no substantial progress.Currently, it is still im-possible to achieve fundamental judicial reform without initiatives in political reform.However, promoting the rule of law could be a most appropriate point of departure for the political reform.The move entails low cost and low risk.Besides, it’ s easy to reach consensus and most unlikely to trigger social disturbance.Judicial reform is the most crucial step towards establishing the rule of law.And judicial independence, as the crux of judicial reform, is the prerequisite for ensuring judicial justice and also the guide line for the rule of law.Judicial inde-pendence is the bottom line and a underlying principle that all have to respect.In fact, how well a country is ruled by law can be measured by the degree of its judicial independence.It is crucial for us to remove some misunderstandings in China, and reiterate the importance of judicial independence.Then, we can then proceed to talk about strategies for promoting judicial reform.