（Abstract）

The ideal and practice of the rule of law came into Chinese discourse in the beginning of last century. Through the process of the modernization of the Chinese legal system，rule of law has been expressed by the Party and the government as a strategy for state management，a thought that has gradually deepened in the minds of the people. However，it should be pointed out that there obviouslyexists an ‘unbalance’ in the area of legal research，i. e. the system has occupiedthe central focus of the research all along，however，the subject of the operation of this system - the judges - are on the contrary considered as a “marginaltopic” to be kept out of the field of legal research. Actually，in the process of modernizing the Chinese legal system，as well as being very worthy of attention，a sufficient focus on the question of judges is necessary. To be able to corrctly understand the role and position of judges in constructing and operating the system，and then to reasonably position the profession of judges directly concerns the success of rule of law in China.

The profession of judges is the next step in the division the legal profession，it is a group composed up of professional judges who execute the judicial functions of the state. The profession of judges has substantial differences fromthose of the other ordinary professions in the society. It possesses the following characteristics. First，it aims to serve the public，rather than those professions aiming to pursue the private interests. Second，it emphasizes sophisticated professional techniques on the grounds of profound knowledge，rather than those craftsmanship professions who only satisfy practical skills. Finally，the profession of judges differs from other ordinary professions in that it has becomean autonomous group with a set of rules for recognition of qualifications，punishment of disciplinary violations and status guarantees. This is a relatively clear definition achieved after the systematic comparative analysis of the conceptof the profession of judges.

It is most necessary that we examine the historical period when the profession of judges came into being. When considering the historical time when theprofession of judges came into being，we have two fundamental arguments on this point. Firstly，the establishment of the profession of judges should be distinguished from the judges themselves. As a professional group，the profession of judges has its specific meaning. It did not come into being at the same time with theappearance of judges in history. In other words，the appearance of judges didnot imply the establishment of the profession of judges. Secondly，there is a need for a certain spaces in both institutions and society for the profession of judges to form，i. e. the historical precondition of the forming of the professionof judges is the substantial separation of the law and the social customs，or political institutions and religious institutions，allowing the a certain degree of legal autonomy. In a strict sense，the profession of judges in did not comeinto being，before the end of 11^th century and the beginning of 12^th century，but after that time there were dramatic changes，professional courts，legislatures，the legal professions，legal writing and legal science appeared successively in West European countries. With the development of the capitalistic economyand the adoption of the capitalistic political model of separation of powers，the profession of judges acquired unprecedented development.

In China，the term judge was first found in the legal work “Shang Jun Shu：DingFen” from the Warring States period，but it does not mean that the professionof judges came into being at that time. In fact，during ancient times in China，judicial organs were not separated from the government，and the students of lawwere not respected in the society，especially after the Tang and Song dynasties，no-one studied the law（lü）. The situation of looking down on the law did notchange until the end of the Qing dynasty. Because students of law lacked the chance to undertake legal practice，it was hard for them to form a specialized profession of judges. Therefore，during that time，there did not exist a set of special legal knowledge and techniques，nor did there exist a legal professional group who operated rules，filled the legal organs and participated in the practicesof contesting lawsuits. The lack of independent status for judges continued under the government of the Republic of China. After the establishment of the NewChina，and in accordance with the socialistic political system，the Chinese society got a specialized judicial organ（including the People’s Courts and the People’s Procuratorate）. However，it should be pointed out that the professionofjudges did not achieve a rational position at that time. This resulted in thecorresponding result，being the exclusion of the independence of the judiciary because it was for a long time considered an abnormity of capitalism.

After the above description of the historical process of the profession ofjudges，the author believes that the formation and development of the professionof judges relate mainly to the two following elements. Firstly，the forming of the profession of judges is subject to the restrictions by the development of the social economy. Only when the social economy has developed to a certain degreewould it be possible for the judicial practice to part from the society. In addition，with the development of economy，the society became increasingly sophisticated，which necessarily called for professional lawyers to handle legal matters. Thus，there exists a mutual relationship between the profession of judges and social development，when the procedures and the regulations becomes the necessity of the society；people will choose a predictable law as a cure-all for a stable society. Furthermore，this social space undoubtedly provides a broad prospectfor the development of the profession of judges. Secondly，the traditional legalculture of China restrained the formation and development of the profession ofjudges. Furthermore，the development of the profession of judges depends to alarge degree on the society’s belief in the law. Where the law is the supreme authority，it will become the main measure and method to solve social disputes. Accordingly，the status of the profession of judges will emerge；therefore，its development will also become a historical necessity.

Within the power structures of modern states，the judicial powers possess some common characteristics recognized universally by all human beings. This necessarily makes the profession of judges，as the holders of the state judicial powers，to necessarily share certain common characteristics；i. e. firstly，thepursuance of justice and the scrupulous maintenance of its neutral status；secondly，a particular mode of thinking and special techniques；thirdly，the finality andreasoning of the judgments.

What deserves our further consideration is that the special characteristicsheld by the profession of judges does not only originate from the position of the judges executing judicial power，actually，the formation of an ideal group of the profession of judges also needs the support of good legal education. Thelow degree of professionalization among the Chinese judges creates a big gap between the Chinese judges and those characteristics that judges in a rule of law society should possess. Undoubtedly，to advance the quality of Chinese judges，there is no choice but to depend on the professionalization of legal education.

Translated by Ran Hao

Edited by Otto Malmgren