**Chapter I General Provisions**

Article 1 The adjudication departments are provisional judicial organs established prior to the establishment of courts. They shall temporarily exercise all the functions and powers of judicial organs and adjudicate criminal and civil cases.

Article 2 Except for active military personnel and staff of military organs, all matters concerning litigation in civil and criminal cases shall be subject to adjudication by the adjudication departments.

Article 3 The organization of adjudication departments at all levels within the territory of the Chinese Soviet Republic and the procedures for adjudicating cases must fully comply with the provisions of these Provisional Regulations.

**Chapter II Organizational System of the Adjudication Departments**

Article 4 Adjudication departments or adjudication sections shall be established within the governments at the city, district, county, and provincial levels. However, they shall not be established within township soviets. (Note: Small city soviets may not establish adjudication sections, and all cases in such cities shall be directly adjudicated by the county adjudication department.)

Article 5 Lower-level adjudication departments are directly subordinate to higher-level adjudication departments. Higher-level adjudication departments have the authority to appoint and dismiss the heads and staff of lower-level adjudication departments. At the same time, adjudication departments shall be subject to the guidance of the presidium of the government at the same level.

Article 6 In terms of adjudication, the adjudication departments are subject to the control of the Provisional Supreme Court. In terms of judicial administration, they are subject to the guidance of the Central Commissariat of Justice. The Commissariat of Justice has the authority to appoint and dismiss the heads and staff of adjudication departments. (Note: In Soviet areas not yet integrated with the Central Soviet Area, the Provincial Executive Committee may exercise the functions and powers of the Provisional Supreme Court and the Central Commissariat of Justice to resolve all judicial issues.)

Article 7 A district adjudication department shall have one head and one clerk. A county adjudication department shall have one head, one adjudicator, and one clerk. A provincial adjudication department shall have one head, one deputy head concurrently serving as adjudicator—two persons in total (one specializing in criminal cases and the other in civil cases)—and one clerk. The head and deputy head shall form an adjudication committee. (Note 1: A county adjudication department may also form an adjudication committee, which can be composed of the head of the adjudication department, adjudicators, the head of the city police, etc.) (Note 2: When necessary, with the permission of the higher-level government, other technical staff may be employed.)

Article 8 Adjudication departments have the authority to call upon the Red Guards, guard platoons, and people's police at any time to undertake various tasks within the scope of judicial work.

Article 9 Persons without the right to vote (including those under the age of sixteen) shall not serve in the adjudication departments. Even clerks must have the right to vote in order to serve.

Article 10 Detention houses may be established under the adjudication departments at all levels to hold prisoners awaiting trial or sentenced to short-term imprisonment. In addition to detention houses, county and provincial adjudication departments must also establish labor rehabilitation centers to hold prisoners sentenced to long-term imprisonment.

**Chapter III Organization of Courts and Their Trial Procedures**

Article 11 Adjudication departments at all levels may organize criminal courts and civil courts to hear criminal and civil cases.

Article 12 Adjudication departments at all levels may organize circuit courts to try cases of relatively significant importance at the location where the incident occurred, so as to attract the broad masses to attend and observe the proceedings.

Article 13 A court shall be composed of three persons. The head of the adjudication department or an adjudicator shall serve as the chief judge, and the other two persons shall serve as lay assessors. (Note: Simple and unimportant cases may be adjudicated by the head of the adjudication department or an adjudicator alone.)

Article 14 Lay assessors shall be elected by trade unions, farm laborers' unions, poor peasant leagues, and other mass organizations. Two persons shall be replaced for each trial. (Note 1: Those without the right to vote [including those under the age of sixteen] shall not be elected as lay assessors.) (Note 2: During their period of service, lay assessors shall be temporarily released from their regular work and shall retain their original average wage. After completing their service as assessors, they shall return to their original work.)

Article 15 When the chief judge and lay assessors decide on a judgment, the opinion of the majority shall prevail. If a dispute cannot be resolved, the opinion of the chief judge shall determine the content of the judgment. If any one of the lay assessors holds a dissenting opinion and insists on retaining it, it may be sealed in an envelope and reported to the higher-level adjudication department for reference in that case.

Article 16 The trial of cases must be public. If there are circumstances involving secrets, a closed trial may be conducted, but the pronouncement of the judgment must still be made public.

Article 17 When trying cases, one or two clerks must be present to take records.

Article 18 During each court session, after the interrogation of one case is completed, the court must retire to deliberate on the judgment. Only after the judgment is pronounced may the next case be tried. It is absolutely forbidden to pronounce the judgment several days after the interrogation is completed.

Article 19 Persons who have familial, kinship, or personal relationships with the defendant shall not participate in adjudicating that defendant's case (this applies equally to lay assessors and the chief judge).

Article 20 The judgment document shall first state the time of the trial and the names of the chief judge, lay assessors, and other persons participating in the trial; next, it shall state the defendant's personal history and the facts of the crime; then, it shall state the crime established; and finally, it shall clearly state the period for the defendant's appeal. If a prison sentence is imposed, it shall be calculated from the day of arrest. Each judgment shall bear the seals or signatures of the chief judge and lay assessors, who shall be responsible for it.

Article 21 A copy of the original text of each judgment shall be provided to the defendant.

Article 22 All materials and evidence of each case shall be compiled together, organized into a single case file, assigned a numerical sequence, and preserved in the adjudication department. Their loss is forbidden.

Article 23 When a court session opens, besides the procurator appearing in court as the plaintiff, for cases related to mass organizations, those mass organizations may also send representatives to appear in court as plaintiffs.

Article 24 The defendant may send a representative to appear in court and present a defense for their own benefit, provided that permission is obtained from the court.

Article 25 For cases adjudicated by adjudication departments at any level, the defendant has the right to appeal within the appeal period specified in the judgment document. The appeal period is set at two weeks, with the specific deadline determined by the court hearing the case based on the circumstances of the case. (Note: The appeal deadline is calculated from the day the defendant submits the appeal petition to the adjudication department that heard the case, not from the day the appeal petition is received by the higher-level adjudication department.)

Article 26 In cases where a death sentence is imposed, even if the defendant does not lodge an appeal, the adjudication department trying the case must send the judgment document and the complete case file to the higher-level adjudication department for approval.

Article 27 A judgment in a case shall be enforced only after the appeal period specified in the judgment document has expired, or after it has been approved by the higher-level adjudication department.

Article 28 Adjudication departments may use three types of writs: summons, arrest warrants, and search warrants.

**Chapter IV Jurisdiction of Adjudication Departments at Each Level**

Article 29 Adjudication departments have the authority to issue warnings, impose fines, confiscate property, impose forced labor, impose imprisonment, and execute by shooting.

Article 30 District adjudication departments shall try ordinary, unimportant cases. The period of punishment, whether forced labor or imprisonment, imposed by their judgments shall not exceed six months.

Article 31 County adjudication departments serve as the court of final instance for cases decided by district adjudication departments. Simultaneously, they serve as the court of first instance for cases of county-wide significance. They have the authority to impose death sentences, but not the authority to execute them. Death sentences imposed by county adjudication departments can only be carried out after receiving approval from the provincial adjudication department. (Note: County soviet adjudication departments isolated from the provincial government may carry out executions without the approval of the provincial adjudication department.)

Article 32 Provincial adjudication departments serve as the court of final instance for cases adjudicated by county adjudication departments. Simultaneously, they serve as the court of first instance for cases of province-wide significance. They have the authority to impose death sentences, but must send them to the Provisional Supreme Court for approval before execution. (Note: In provinces not yet integrated with the Central Soviet Area, the provincial adjudication department has the authority to make final decisions on cases.)

**Chapter V Work and Tasks of Procurators**

Article 33 A provincial adjudication department may have one chief procurator and one deputy procurator. A county adjudication department shall have one procurator. District adjudication departments shall not have procurators.

Article 34 Procurators manage the preliminary examination of cases. Except for cases that are simple and clear, requiring no preliminary examination, all cases sent to the adjudication department must undergo preliminary examination by a procurator. Furthermore, in all criminal acts, the procurator has the authority to conduct inspections.

Article 35 After completing the preliminary examination procedure, if the procurator determines that criminal facts and evidence exist, they shall draw a conclusion and then transfer the case to the court for trial.

Article 36 When a criminal act is discovered and the case requires a prior arrest before an inspection can be conducted, the procurator has the authority to arrest the offender first.

Article 37 During the inspection of a case, the procurator has the authority to summon for interrogation any person related to the case at any time.

Article 38 When inspecting a case, the procurator must produce a written record of the preliminary examination for both defendants and witnesses. This record must be signed or sealed by the person interrogated (defendants and witnesses) and the procurator, and shall serve as evidence in the case.

Article 39 Procurators act as plaintiffs representing the state. When a court hears a case, they may appear on behalf of the state to prosecute. (Note: Before the procuratorial system is established, one person may be selected from among the adjudicators to undertake the work of preliminary examination and carry out the duties of a procurator. However, an adjudicator who has conducted the preliminary examination shall not serve as the chief judge or a lay assessor when the court tries that case. However, for counter-revolutionary cases, the State Political Security Bureau may dispatch representatives to act as plaintiffs representing the state.)

**Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions**

Article 40 The Central Executive Committee has the authority to amend or suspend these Regulations at any time. These Regulations shall be promulgated by decree of the Central Executive Committee.

Article 41 These Regulations shall take effect in Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces and the directly-administered county of Ruijin from the date of promulgation. However, in Soviet areas not yet integrated with the Central Soviet Area, they shall take effect from the date the document is received.

Central Executive Committee
Chairman: Mao Zedong
Vice Chairmen: Xiang Ying, Zhang Guotao
June 9, 1932