According to the Constitution, the people's courts are the trial organs of the State. The people's courts exercise trial power independently, in accordance with the provisions of the law, and are not subject to interference by any administrative organ, public organisation or individual.

According to the Organic Law of the People's Courts, the organisational system of the people's courts is composed of local people's courts at various levels, special people's courts and the Supreme People's Court.

(1) Local people's courts at various levels. The local people's courts at various levels comprise basic people's courts, intermediate people's courts and higher people's courts. Basic people's courts consist of county people's courts and municipal people's courts, people's courts of autonomous counties, and people's courts of municipal districts. A basic people's court may set up a number of people's tribunals according to the conditions of the locality, population and cases. Except for cases otherwise provided for by laws, a basic people's court hears criminal, civil and administrative cases of first instance. Intermediate people's courts consist of intermediate people's courts established in prefectures of a province or autonomous region, intermediate people's courts established in municipalities directly under the Central Government, intermediate people's courts of municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of a province or autonomous region, and intermediate people's courts of autonomous prefectures. An intermediate people's court handles cases of first instance assigned by laws to its jurisdiction, cases of appeals and of protests lodged against judgments and orders of the basic people's courts, and cases for retrial lodged in accordance with the procedures of trial supervision, and supervises the administration of justice by the basic people's courts in its jurisdiction. Higher people's courts consist of higher people's courts of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. A higher people's court handles cases of first instance assigned by laws to its jurisdiction, cases of appeals and of protests lodged against judgments and orders of people's courts at lower levels, and cases for retrial lodged in accordance with the procedures of trial supervision, and supervises the administration of justice by the people's courts at lower levels.

(2) Special people's courts. Special people's courts are composed of military courts, railway transport courts and maritime courts. Of those, maritime courts have no jurisdiction over criminal cases. Cases of appeals against the judgments and orders of a maritime court are handled by the higher people's court in the locality where the maritime court is located. The railway transport courts comprise basic and intermediate courts. Cases of appeals against the judgments and orders of a railway transport court are handled by the higher people's court in the locality where the railway transport court is located.

(3) The Supreme People's Court. The Supreme People's Court is the highest trial organ of the State. It supervises the administration of justice by the local people's courts at various levels and by the special people's courts. The Supreme People's Court handles cases of first instance assigned by laws to its jurisdiction and which it considers should itself try, cases of appeals and of protests lodged against judgments and orders of higher people's courts and special people's courts, and cases of protests lodged by the Supreme People's Procuratorate in accordance with the procedures of trial supervision, and reviews in accordance with law the judgments and orders on cases involving death sentences. In addition, the Supreme People's Court gives interpretation on questions concerning specific application of laws in judicial proceedings.

The Supreme People's Court is responsible to and reports on its work to the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress supervises the work of the Supreme People's Court. Local people's courts at various levels are responsible to and report on their work to the people's congresses at the corresponding levels and their standing committees. Standing committees of local people's congresses at various levels supervise the work of the people's courts at the corresponding levels. At the same time, people's courts at higher levels supervise the administration of justice by those at lower levels; the Supreme People's Court supervises the administration of justice by the people's courts at various local levels and by the special people's courts.

A people's court sets up a division for docketing cases, a criminal division, a civil division, an administrative division, a division of trial supervision, an execution agency and other professional divisions.

Personnel of the people's courts are composed of judges and judicial support personnel. Judges are classified into presidents, vice-presidents, chief judges and associate chief judges of divisions, judges and assistant judges of people's courts. Of those, the presidents shall be elected by the people's congresses at the corresponding levels; the vice-presidents, chief judges and associate chief judges of divisions and judges shall be appointed or removed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding levels upon the suggestions of the presidents; assistant judges shall be appointed or removed by the presidents of the courts where they work. With approval, an assistant judge may provisionally perform the functions of a judge. According to the Judges Law, judges throughout the country are classified into four ranks and 12 grades: Chief Justice, Associate Justice, Senior Judge and Judge. They shall be determined on the basis of their posts and ranks, their achievements in the work and their seniority. As provided in the Judges Law, a judge shall possess the following qualifications: (1) to be of the nationality of the People's Republic of China; (2) to have reached the age of 23; (3) to endorse the Constitution of the People's Republic of China; (4) to have fine political and professional quality and to be good in conduct; (5) to be in good health; and (6) to have worked in law for at least two years in the case of a graduate from a four-year course in the law specialty of an institution of higher education or a graduate from a four-year course in a non-law specialty of such an institution who possesses the professional knowledge of law. Persons to be appointed judges for the first time shall be selected from among those who have passed the uniform national judicial examination and who are the best qualified for the post, in conformity with the standards of having both ability and moral integrity.