Paging Dr. Overkill. Chongqing Would Like to Talk to You About An Anti-corrruption Matter

2010-01-15

They have their hearts in the right place, but this is serious overkill:

Court personnel holding senior positions have to get ready for resignation if their spouses or children are taking off or proceeding with a legal career this year, according to a new regulation issued by Chongqing People's Court, Chongqing Evening News reported yesterday.

Present holders of senior posts may lose their post if their spouses or children become lawyers, said the regulation intended to ensure judicial justice.

According to Qian Feng, president of the municipal higher people's court, personnel whose spouses or children are already lawyers will be barred from nomination for some key posts such as presidents and judges. (China Daily)

I'm assuming that this applies to judges only, but this brief writeup suggests that non-judge court personnel might also be subject to the same rule.

Now, this is not quite as bad as it sounds. For one thing, everyone knows that any marriage that includes two lawyers is doomed to failure. Additionally, I wouldn't want to inflict a legal career on any child of mine, so I don't think I would ever have the problem with the lawyer kids.

But that's just me. Lots of other folks have families with multiple lawyers, and many a son or daughter tries to emulate Mommy or Daddy by going into the same line of work.

Seriously, these guys need to start worrying about things like recusal rules, conflicts of interest, etc. There are ways of dealing with this problem without including all lawyers, no matter their position. Presumably a lawyer who was not even practicing would still subject their mother, father, spouse to this rule. Yikes.

Tags: China Law