（Abstract）

In China，the objective conditions for judicial independence are extremelycomprehensive，such as there are positive factors for promoting judicial independence as well as negative factors affecting the development of rule of law. Before the legal reforms in Qing Dynasty，the tradition of combining the administrative branch and the judicial branch was maintained in China，therefore，there isno an idea of separation of powers between judicial branch and administrative branch，and judicial powers has become to depend on the administrative powers. From the Qing Dynasty until the Republic of China the holders of state powers got no chance to realize nation-wide judicial independence along with the developmentof the political systems.

After the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949，judicial independence became a topic prohibited from discussion，because of most officials’ lackof legal knowledge and “the leadership of CPC” had been misunderstood. Alongwith the popularization of the rule of law，judicial power has been steadily enhanced since initiation of the Reform and Opening-up policies. Due to this process，the extent of judicial independence has increased. However，the meaning of“judicial independence” in Chinese，no matter by conceptual contents，denotation or cognitive value，is clearly different from that of the West.

Judicial independence as a theory of judicial power is a typical “import”，and it is worth considering the differences in understanding its contents amongpeople from different classes and interest groups. Among the dominant politicalideas，judicial independence does not imply independence from the party in poweror its organizations on all levels，and National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee. So-called judicial independence is conditional and relative，itis a independence conditioned by maintaining the leadership of the CPC（Mainly the leadership of the same-level or a higher-level Party Committees，and the organ’s own Party Committee or leading Party group）and the general supervision ofCPC. The judicial independence that has been emphasized in formal documents，mainly points to independence of judicial power from the powers of the administration. As to what degree judicial organs are independent from the ruling party’sorgans and the National People’s Congress is a question that is still will be discussed for a long time to come.

However，based on the historical experience and practical difficulties，practitioners and researchers recognize the necessity of judicial independence. Comprehension and knowledge of judicial independence among the Chinese legal community comes from the general knowledge of the international legal sphere，however，we must take note that sufficient judicial independence is based on the premiseof the supremacy of the law. When trying cases，judges are required to employlegally effective proof in addition to professional knowledge to infer the“facts” that can be “proven” as the basis for its judgments，as well as the takinglaw as the criterion for action. Legal standards，judges’ conscience and publicinterests are the scale of discretion；no government offices，parties，mass organizations and individuals can interfere in their work.

Most of Chinese interpret the principle of judicial independence without any real understanding，or reasoned from the point of Chinese traditional legal conscious dogma，so that a total different concept from that of judicial independence is discussed within jurisprudence. For the average person，judicial independence is that the judicial organ is independent from both parties of a case；it is similar to judicial neutrality on this point. Certainly，Chinese people payincreasingly more attention to the impartiality of judicature，and the understanding of rule of law is changing. Knowledge and technical abilities are both thesupport and preconditions for the existence of judicial independence. Only if thepeople can grasp a basic legal knowledge，can the concept of rule of law be deeply understood by the people，and only then can a sufficient amount of legal professionals be produced. Only when the society respects the law and the judicaturewill it be possible to have a sustainable basis，and also only then can judicial independence be realized.

Different interest groups‘ value of judicial independence varies from eachother，even to the point of opposition. It is not only related to interest conflicts，but also concerned with legal culture. In China’s political circles，awestern model of judicial independence is commonly objected to，and a distinct Chinese character is showed in their interpretation of judicial independence. Formalexpressions do not include judicial independence when implementing the main principle of running the country in accordance with law；it is only a principle of judicial work-judicial independence is just an affiliated measure to realize thefairness of justice. At the present stage，because of local protectionism andadministrative interferences with judgments，the independence of the adjudicativepowers is being emphasized. It is a provisional measure. The position to judicial independence that the CPC takes depends heavily on its political experience.The Chinese Communist Party obtained its administrative power by armed struggle，in this process the key factors were military force，the Party’s ability to organize and the support of the people，not judgments by a judicial organ in accordance with a constitution and laws. In developed countries，the change of political parties and the transfer of political powers is a peaceful process；it is executed on the tracks of rule of law and democracy. In this circumstance，the judicial organs are naturally neutral and authoritative. The balance of politicalgroups makes all sides recognize the judicial decision as the final settlement ofa dispute. In this sense，CCP cannot accept judicial judgment as the final andauthoritative decision like in the West. It must be emphasized that formal expressions towards judicial justice is highly valued. Both on the decision-makinglevel and on the local levels，there is a common understanding that if there is nojudicial justice，there can be no rule of law. There can even be no politicalstability and social development. Therefore，the focus of the ruling party is nowon how to guarantee judicial justice，and especially to establish an effective system that does not depend on individual authority. Still，there is no commonunderstanding of the value of recognizing that “judicial independence is a condition for judicial justice”.

Because of the recognition by the legal profession towards the concept of judicial independence is close to the general international concept；this impliesthe rather high value put on judicial independence. The dominant thought amonglegal professionals consider the principle of judicial independence is a basic principle of rule of law；if there is no judicial independence，there cannot havereal rule of law. Consequently，in a state under the rule of law，judicial independence must be systematized. The high value put on judicial independence bylegal professionals is both related to benefit and closely related to the overwhelming amount of Western jurisprudence in legal education. Legal professionals useknowledge and professional skill as “capital” for obtaining their interests.Only if the judiciary can increasingly use knowledge and professional skill as keyfactors，and not use political considerations or power and strength as replacement，can the legal professional obtain the most stable benefits or benefit foresight. It is only when realizing complete judicial independence that one can guarantee that judicial act become real legal professional acts，to eliminate interference from other factors，and to spur the realization of making the judicial organs more knowledgeable and professionalized.

For most Chinese people，the crux for achieving judicial justice（or ratherachieving rule of law）is whether justices are principled，impartial，moral andrather wise. Judicial independence is only a secondary requirement and is a factor of subsidiary position. The rather low position of judicial independence among the people is closely related to the following three factors；the long-standing ruling position of the concept of “rule by man” in China，the lack of respectfor the professionalism and abilities of the judiciary，and that the Chinese people never formed a rule in which the channel for dispute resolution and reliefmainly relied on the judiciary.

Edited by Otto Malmgren