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The huge dispute between Confucianism and Legalism gradually subsided amid the strong condemnation from the lower classes and the emperor's sincere communication and guidance.
The conspiracy theories spread by Ye Bushou played a big role in this. Many officials who secretly fanned the flames stopped because they were worried about being accused of having ulterior motives.
Without their secret instigation, the emperor again worshipped Confucius Temple and promoted Confucianism first. In addition, the emperor's heartfelt conversation in the Imperial College quickly spread, and the scholars became calm.
After all, there have been laws in every dynasty, and whether the administration of officials is clean and honest is directly related to whether the laws are enforced and supervised in place. Everyone understands this.
Everyone was just worried that the emperor would abandon Confucianism, or even burn books and bury scholars like the First Emperor. After this worry was eliminated, the scholars' behavior of reforming the judiciary could be understood.
Taking advantage of this favorable situation, Qin Mu convened another grand court meeting and announced a plan for judicial reform.
This was a grand court meeting in the Purple Palace Hall. Officials not only had to perform the three kneeling and nine kowtows ceremony, but also unlike the regular court meetings held in the Zizheng Palace, where officials above the third rank had seats to sit at, all officials in this grand court meeting in the Purple Palace Hall had no seats, and all stood in line according to their official rank.
Qin Mu convened a grand court meeting in the Purple Palace to discuss the judicial reform plan, with the intention of using this solemn ceremony to declare the emperor's authority.
In the magnificent and solemn Golden Palace, Qin Muyu, wearing a crown and robes, sat high on the imperial throne with nine golden dragons circling it, looking straight ahead. All the officials in the hall stood with their heads bowed, and the vast sky and clouds outside the hall were all in sight.
Wang Fuzhi, a Hanlin scholar, came out of the class holding a hu tablet and read aloud: "The purpose of this judicial reform is to make the judiciary more neutral, independent, unified, professional, open and authoritative. Specific reform ideas will be explored along these five directions.
Among them, neutrality requires the presiding officer to be like a scale, balancing both sides and being impartial; while independence is to ensure that the presiding officer is not subject to interference and pressure from all parties, and makes a fair trial based on the actual situation of the case.
The purpose of uniformity is to avoid judicial chaos, local practices being carried out independently, inconsistent sentencing, and local protectionism affecting trials, resulting in different trial results for similar cases.
The professionalism is not difficult to understand. Without professional judicial officials, no matter how good the judicial system is, it will be difficult to implement. As for openness, judicial trials often involve human lives. If we are not careful, once an unjust, false, or wrongful case occurs, it will surely anger the heavens and the people.
Therefore, it is necessary to make the trial process public and allow the public to observe the trial so as to accept supervision from multiple parties and avoid the presiding officials from manipulating cases behind closed doors, taking bribes and perverting the law, so as to maintain judicial fairness.
The final authority. As the last and most important characteristic, it is determined by the previous characteristics. That is to say, the neutrality, independence, unity, professionalism and openness of judicial power determine that it must be authoritative.
The legislature has legislative authority. The executive has administrative authority. The judiciary, as the enforcer of the laws made by the legislature and the supervisor of administrative law enforcement, needs more authority. In other words, no one can deliberately undermine or damage the authority of the judiciary... "
Wang Fuzhong read out loudly with full of energy. After explaining the six main themes of judicial reform, namely neutrality, independence, unity, professionalism, openness and authority, he returned to the train.
Qin Mu said, "Ministers, please speak frankly if you have any additions to this. In addition, in order to ensure these six judicial characteristics, please give detailed suggestions on how to reform the judicial system and improve its hardware and software."
Sima Kai was the first to come out and said, "Your Majesty, I think that in order to ensure the fairness of the judiciary, it must be stipulated that officials who preside over judicial trials must not hold other positions concurrently, so as to avoid making unfair judgments due to their involvement in their positions and interests.
Throughout the criminal law replaced by officials, the power of law enforcement and judgment was in the hands of local officials, which was an important factor leading to judicial corruption. It was not uncommon for local officials to disregard the law for the sake of political achievements.
Although the judicial power of the Qin Dynasty has been separated from the local chief officials and handed over to their deputy officials, the deputy officials have not yet left the administrative system and are still subordinate to the chief officials. It can be said that the medicine remains the same after a change of name.
Therefore, I believe that first of all, the local officials in charge of judicial affairs should be completely separated from the administrative system immediately and set up in their own government offices to conduct independent trials.
In addition, it is particularly important for all judicial officials to be honest and impartial. Their family members are prohibited from engaging in business, and they must declare their assets publicly before taking office, and undergo property audits when leaving office or being promoted.
After Sima Kai finished speaking, the imperial envoy Zhang Xiaochen immediately came out and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I think this is not enough. Your Majesty, I suggest that all judicial officials should implement a lifelong responsibility system, that is, they must be responsible for every case they handle. In the future, no matter whether they leave office or are promoted, as long as there are unjust, wrong or false cases in the cases they have handled, they must be held accountable. Moreover, as law enforcement officials, if they break the law while enforcing it, they should be punished more severely."
"That's right. If a person is greedy for money and profit, he should go into business and not be an official. Your Majesty must reform the judiciary to make it neutral, independent, unified, professional, open, and authoritative. Officials engaged in the judiciary must be strictly required, even if it is a bit harsh, for the sake of the people of the world, it is worth it."
The imperial censors in the palace came out one after another, digging out hidden corners and plugging loopholes, as if they were trying to make the future judge into a saint, so that you wouldn't be allowed to have any selfish thoughts.
Some of them probably really want to put an end to private law corruption, but there are also people who are dissatisfied with judicial reform and take their anger out on the "judges".
Who knows, I might be judged by you in the future. Well, I will first make you a "saint" who can't be touched by anything. Then I will see who is willing to be the judge.
Officials are very clear about the ways of the officialdom. After they really regard "judges" as public enemies, they do their best to prevent minor problems and plug loopholes. What about the property audit for resignation and promotion? How can this be enough? It must be checked every year. During the trial of a case, they are not allowed to meet with the parties in private, and they must accept the supervision of local councilors when handling the case... ... .
This scene in the Purple Palace made Qin Mu laugh and cry. This is to prevent fire, theft and judges. Don't even think about getting any small profits...
But then again, this is fine. No matter what, it is always good to nip judges in the bud. Qin Mu believes that there are still people willing to do it. There are many people who seek fame instead of profit. I guess these people will rush to do this job.
Judicial reform is the top priority, but the more so, the more it has to be done step by step. The first step is to reform the Ministry of Justice and set up a new court system, assigning the power of trial to the courts; the Ministry of Justice will only retain the power of law enforcement, and vertically govern the patrol offices in various places, which is actually equivalent to the police system.
The Tongzhi and Xiancheng in various localities were also separated to form independent local courts, and it was stipulated that the relationship between the superior and inferior courts was one of supervision and guidance, rather than a relationship of leadership and being led, in order to maintain judicial independence.
In other words, it is absolutely forbidden for the higher court to interfere with the trial activities of the lower court at any time. Only when the parties appeal can the higher court make a decision to modify or maintain the judgment of the lower court.
As for other administrative departments, they are strictly prohibited from interfering in the trial process of courts at all levels.
Very detailed regulations have been made for the training, selection and promotion of judges to prevent and control problems in the bud.
Officials from various departments discussed this very enthusiastically, and the imperial censors did not let go of any loopholes. Qin Mu was happy to see this happen, as it was actually just the first step in judicial reform.
The judicial system actually includes several departments such as legislation, supervision, law enforcement, and trial, and the censors are responsible for the supervision part.
In fact, the fairness of the trial is important, but whether the supervision is in place is even more important. Once the reform of the Ministry of Justice is completed, Qin Mu will definitely rectify the Metropolitan Procuratorate and improve the supervision system. By then, the one who will undergo the operation will be the most popular censor.
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ps: The internet is down today, so this update is late. There will be another chapter later. Please support us and subscribe to the genuine version. (To be continued..)
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