Conditions need to be considered

By Cao Yin | China Daily | Updated: 2018-10-01 13:07

Zhang Jieying, doctoral student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Zhang Jieying, 27, a doctoral student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, recounted her six-month experience as a legal intern at the Supreme People's Court to Cao Yin, saying she hoped the program could be kept and suggested that students be provided with more cases.

I was an intern at the court's administrative division from October 2015 to March 2016. During the internship, I helped judges draft judgments, review legal reports or notes, collect case materials and participated in legal research.

I miss and am thankful for the time I spent reading and researching abundant rulings to make sure a decision could be adopted in solving more disputes across the country, because it not only made me understand the significance of classic cases, but also contributed to my subsequent study overseas.

I found very small matters could influence a case when I studied abroad in the United States after the internship. Foreign teachers often highlighted the importance of details in a case and asked us to demonstrate facts again and again, which always reminded me of the days at the top court.

Judges at the court also spent lots of time and energy on demonstration. They held seminars to analyze legal problems and look for as many materials as possible to ensure their decisions were more accurate. Most of time, we just see a final result, but luckily I witnessed the process.

Many legal problems look similar, but in fact they are solved differently, as we have to take local conditions into consideration, which is also what I learned after comparing the experience at the top court and in the US.

What's more, I made friends during the internship. Our tutor judges established a WeChat group of interns, interacting with us on legal issues and caring about our lives.

I really hope the legal intern program can be kept in future, allowing interns to deal with more cases. Figuring out the best solution to a dispute is a kind of art. Before that, we should first be industrious in getting experience from abundant cases.