China to ensure personal safety of people's assessors

China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) said on May 29 that it will release rules to guarantee the personal safety of people's assessors and their close relatives, as well as their property.

People's assessors are citizens that are authorized to work with professional judges to try cases in court, according to a law adopted in April.

The announcement, made at a joint meeting of the SPC and China's Ministry of Justice (MOJ), also stressed that those who retaliate against, insult, libel, or commit violence toward people's assessors should be held liable.

In cases that people's assessors are underpaid with wages, bonuses or other employee benefits by their employers due to their participation in case trials, local people's courts should ask the employers to rectify the situation.

The MOJ, together with the SPC and the Ministry of Public Security, are studying the details of selection and appointment of people's assessors.