The Military Court of the People's Liberation Army (also referred to as the Military High Court of the PLA) is the highest level military court of the Chinese armed forces (including the PLA and the People's Armed Police). It is a Deputy Theater grade (副战区级) unit organized under dual subordination: administratively under the direct supervision of the Political and Legal Commission of the Central Military Commission, and operationally as a Specialized People's Court under the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court.
History Before 1954 On September 1, 1931, the Soviet Government of the EYUAN District promulgated the Provisional Regulations of the Revolutionary Military Tribunal, which stated that "the Revolutionary Military Tribunal is the military law enforcement organ of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and shall deal with any breach of discipline and military administration of the Chinese Red Army (all revolutionary armed forces)." On February 1, 1932, the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic unified and promulgated the Provisional Regulations on the Organization of the Military Courts of the Chinese Soviet Republic, which provided that "the troops of the Red Army at all levels and the local armed commands shall organize military courts to try criminal cases in the Red Army."
After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the reorganization of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army into the Eighth Route Army in August 1937, the Military Inquisition was changed to the Military Justice Division, which was set up within the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army. In 1939, the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army issued the Draft Regulations on the Work of the Military Justice Division, which stipulated that the Military Justice Division was to be established within the political departments of divisions, brigades, military districts, military subdivisions, and rear garrisons.
During the Chinese Civil War, military law offices continued to be established in the army, generally in the command or political department of troops above the brigade (sub-district), with the chief of staff, the director of the political department, or the chief of the defense department (division), or in some cases, the military and political chief of the army. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, troops continued to have a Military Law Division, and when the troops were integrated in 1952, the Military Law Division was placed in a separate sequence, led by both the CCP Committee and the military and political chiefs at the same level, and under the leadership of the Military Law Division at a higher level.
1954-1969 In January 1954, the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government decided to establish the Military Tribunal of the PLA to unify the management of military trials throughout the army. Chen Qihan was appointed by the Central Military Commission as the President of the Military Tribunal of the PLA. in September 1954, the First Session of the 1st National People's Congress adopted the 1954 Constitution of China and the Organic Law of the People's Courts of the People's Republic of China, which provided for the establishment of specialized people's courts. In accordance with the above-mentioned laws, on November 1, 1954, the Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) promulgated the establishment table of military courts, renaming the Military Tribunal of the PLA as the Military Court of the PLA. on August 31, 1955, in accordance with the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Organic Law of the People's Courts of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of National Defense issued the Notice on the Change of the Name of the Military Law Offices at All Levels of the Army The Notice on the Change of Military Law Offices at All Levels of the Army to Military Courts", which renamed the Military Law Offices at all levels of the PLA as Military Courts, thus incorporating them into the national judiciary system and stipulating that the Military Courts were organizationally part of the military establishment and led by the CCP Committee of the Army; and were under the supervision of the Supreme People's Court in terms of judging work. Military courts are set up at four levels: (1) military courts of the PLA; (2) military courts of major military regions, naval forces, air forces, public security forces, railway troops, and PLA General Headquarters; (3) military courts of armies, provincial military districts, police districts, military air forces, and naval fleets; and (4) military courts of divisions and the equivalent of divisions of various military branches, services, military subdivisions, and bases.
At the 92nd meeting of the CCP Central Military Commission on December 6, 1956, on the recommendation of the Supreme People's Court, it was decided that the Military Court of the PLA would be renamed the Military Trial Chamber of the Supreme People's Court. on April 3, 1957, the 55th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 1st National People's Congress appointed Chen Qihan as Vice President of the Supreme People's Court and Zhong Hanhua as Military Trial Chamber, and Yuan Guang as vice president.
In June 1957, the General Political Department of the PLA, in accordance with the decision of the enlarged meeting of the Military Commission of the CCP Central Committee and with the consent of the Supreme People's Court, stipulated that military courts at all levels, in addition to being supervised by higher courts in accordance with the law, were under the leadership of the political departments of the same level within the army. In 1958, under the slogan of Anti-Rightist Movement, Encourage Energy, and Promote Great Leap Forward in Military Justice Work," the military justice system continued to crack down on a wide range of cases, and the conviction rate increased sharply. After 1958, according to the "Regulations on Strengthening Collaboration among the Three Departments of Defense, Military Prosecution and Military Justice" formulated and issued by the Defense Department of the General Political Department of the PLA, the Military Trial Chamber of the Supreme People's Court, and the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, during the "Great Leap Forward" campaign, the military trial work During the "Great Leap Forward" movement, the system of division of responsibilities among the defense, military prosecution, and military justice departments, mutual cooperation, and mutual restraint was replaced by "one chief in place of three chiefs" (any one of the three chiefs of the defense, prosecution, and military justice departments could act for the other two chiefs), "one member in place of three members" (any one of the scouts, prosecutors, and judges could act for the other two chiefs), and "one member in place of three members" (the scouts, prosecutors, and judges). This is the same trend as the local trial work of the Public Security Bureau, the Procuratorate, and the courts, which were responsible for the division of labor, cooperation, and mutual restraint, was replaced by "one chief for three chiefs" and "one member for three members". In some military trials, court trials were combined with mass criticism, and defendants were completely deprived of their right to defense. These practices have led to great problems in military trials.
On January 16, 1961, the General Political Department of the PLA issued the Notice on the Co-location of the Three Departments of Defense, Military Prosecution, and Military Justice, in which the three departments of defense, military prosecution, and military justice at all levels of the army were reduced to one office each, following the model of the co-location of the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China, and were placed under the control of the defense department, while still retaining the names of the three departments externally. On May 24, 1962, the Ministry of National Defense issued the "Table of the Basic Organizational System of the Major Military Regions", which separated the military courts from the defense department and restored them to a separate organization. On September 3, 1962, the three departments of defense, military prosecution, and military justice were officially separated. Later, Tan Furen was appointed by the Central Military Commission as the head of the Military Trial Court of the Supreme People's Court. By the end of 1964, the military judiciary was basically restored, and on May 29, 1965, the Military Court of the Supreme People's Court was renamed the "Military Court of the Chinese People's Liberation Army". There were four levels of military courts: (1) military courts of the PLA; (2) military courts of major military regions, navy, air force, and public security forces; (3) military courts of military air forces and naval fleets; (4) military courts of provincial military districts, field armies and military-level (corps-level) bases, fortress districts, police (garrison) districts and air force and naval bases, and military subdivisions of border defense.
1969-1978 During the Cultural Revolution, the system and principles of the military court system were again criticized. in November 1968, the military courts of the PLA were placed under military control. at the end of 1969, the military courts of the PLA and military courts at all levels throughout the army were abolished one after another. The authority of the military courts was exercised by the defense departments in the name of the military courts. The security departments of units above the military level all held an official seal of the military court with the same number as the unit. In cases where penalties were to be imposed, the defense department would report the verdict in the name of the military court and publish it after verification and approval by the CCP committee.
1978-2016 In January 1978, the Central Military Commission of the CCP issued the "Adjustment Plan for the Military System" and decided to rebuild the Military Court of the PLA and the military courts of major units. In November 1979, with the approval of the CCP Central Military Commission, the General Staff Department and the General Political Department of the PLA jointly issued a circular deciding to re-establish military courts and military procuratorates at the corps and military levels, with their establishment in the political department. In September 1982, the Central Military Commission issued a notice on the streamlining and integration program of the military system reform, in order to make the system of military courts and military prosecutors the same as that of local courts and prosecutors. same, it was stipulated that military courts and military procuratorates were reorganized into three levels: (1) military courts of the PLA and military procuratorates of the PLA; (2) military courts and military procuratorates of major military districts, naval forces, and air forces; and (3) military courts and military procuratorates of provincial military districts, naval fleets, and air forces in military districts. In 1985, in the midst of the Million Disarmament, the military courts and military procuratorates of military-level units of the army were abolished and replaced by the setting up of grassroots military courts and military procuratorates of the army by piece, according to the notice of the General Staff Department of the PLA.