China reforms railway court system

 BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China's railway courts are now being integrated into civilian¹ courts as part of reforms that are intended to help build a unified² judicial³ system.

Railway courts handle criminal and civil cases concerning railway transportation, safety and property. They were operated by the Ministry⁴ of Railways in the past.

All of the country's railways courts will be funded by local finances and the appointment of relevant posts in such courts will be decided⁵ by local legislatures, according to a statement from the Supreme⁶ People's Court (SPC).

China created the railway courts in 1954 but eliminated them just three years later. The courts reemerged in the 1980s, when authorities created a three-tier railway court system including a Supreme Court in Beijing, 17 intermediate courts in local bureaus and another 58 lower courts. The supreme court was eliminated in 1987.

All intermediate- and lower-level courts have been integrated into the civilian court system as of June 28 this year, according to the SPC statement.

More than 3,300 staff and assets with a total worth of 7 billion yuan(1.1 billion U.S. dollars) from the railway court system were transferred, it says.

According to a judicial interpretation⁷ issued by the SPC on Monday, all railway courts will be able to accept criminal and civil cases in addition to railway-related ones starting from Aug. 1.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。