Ever since China opened up to the world in 1980's, the Shanghai Municipal Government, led by the Communist Party of China and the State Council, makes great effort to build the city into an international economic, financial, trade and shipping center. With the cooperation and hardwork of Shanghai people, the city is progressing to its goal as a global metropolitan. The new team of leaders of the Shanghai government took office in February 2003. "The power of the government is entrusted by the people; the interest of people is above all," as Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng promise in his inaugural. Guided by the Shanghai Party Committee, the city's new leadership vows to strictly perform its official duties; to make significant progress in self-improvement, and to intensify the shift of its role from administrative to public service. The Shanghai government will build itself into a service government that would share with the people all their happiness and troubles; a solid responsible government that is efficient, honest and diligent; a law-abiding government that respects legal system and rules strictly and impartially.

Shanghai builds judicial expertise experts base to guarantee the just law enforcement

02/17/2004

According to sources from the Municipal Expertise Center, the Center had bridged a gap in the judicial expertise by building a judicial expertise experts base through their 5 yeas pains-taking efforts. The base is composed of 144 authoritative persons from different branches of knowledge including four experts committee covering physical injury, mental diseases, wording authentication, and judicial account verification. The scientific and objective expertise conclusions made by those¡°Watsons of different sciences¡±ensure the just law enforcement.

The truth of fact of case, being guilty or not, compensation amount are largely evidenced by the judicial expertise. In the past, however, there were many un-authoritative authentication institutions. In case of¡°expertise disputes¡±, trial and law enforcement would not know what expertise to hold as decisive evidence, and repetitive authentications made the litigants involved had to assume redundant economic burdens. Furthermore, the justice of law will be doubted if the expertise conclusions are different. To supervise, administer and coordinate the judicial expertise work, Shanghai Judicial Expertise Working Committee, the first judicial expertise administration institution in China, was set up five years ago, and the authoritative judicial expertise institution¡ªShanghai Judicial Expertise Center was set up as well simultaneously. Legislative Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipality, the Politics and Law Committee of the Municipal Committee of the CPC, Shanghai Bureau of Public Security, Shanghai People¡¯s Procuratorate, Shanghai Superior People's Court, Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, Shanghai Health Bureau, and Shanghai Finance Bureau are members of the Shanghai Judicial Expertise Working Committee. The innovation in judicial expertise administration system not only promotes the healthy and normative development of the judicial expertise but also makes the formation of the judicial expertise experts base come true.

Those 144 experts listed in the judicial expertise experts base have been verified and reviewed by the members of the Shanghai Judicial Expertise Working Committee or the affiliated industries. They are senior experts in their scientific fields not only with advanced technical titles but also with excellent professional skills and ethics.

According to our sources, those¡°Watsons of different sciences¡±had completed expertise work for around 660 cases in total under the doctrines of objectiveness, science, independence and fairness. In their review of expertise, the case number overruling the previous expertise conclusion has declined from 45% to the present 25% odd. Their efforts prevent misjudged or unjust cases and give a scientific and objective support to handling cases by the judicial authorities in a just and timely manner. In case of gross, difficult and foreign-elements involved cases, their initial expertise is decisive without any doubt.

The establishment of Shanghai Judicial Expertise Center and Judicial Expertise Working Committee avoids the possible issues in the judicial expertise work seen in the past. Where the litigants concerned dissent from the conclusion by the initial expertise institution, he can resort to this effective review and disposal system now, which can reduce the situations that different expertise conclusions lead to fail to make judgment for a long time. At present, twice authentication or less is required for a case in Shanghai, which lighten the economic burden of the litigants. The review of expertise by experts functions as model in Shanghai¡¯s judicial expertise work, and enhances the quality of expertise by the initial judicial expertise institutions in Shanghai as well.

The Shanghai government 2006