Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 97 Co-President of the Three Law Divisions

"The Ministry of Criminal Justice will set up a litigation department to be responsible for litigation matters."

“For example, the Litigation Division is responsible for the standards and qualifications of litigants.”

"If people have no way to seek recourse, the Litigation Division should also provide legal aid to help people initiate lawsuits in court."

"If someone is dissatisfied with the administrative measures of a government agency, they can also apply for administrative review or even initiate a lawsuit against the government agency in court."

By incorporating lawyer identification, legal aid, administrative review and other functions into the Litigation Department, Zhu Youjian added another department to the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

After hearing this, Yuan Keli felt that these functions could indeed support a company.

In particular, the standards for litigants are very necessary now.

There are some places in the south of the Yangtze River that like to litigate. Those litigants, both good and bad, give officials a headache.

It is necessary for the imperial court to regulate and determine the qualifications to practice——

It can't be that officials need to take the imperial examination to serve, but lawyers don't need to take the exam, right?
That's not all. Zhu You recalled the case of Xin Xinbo and said:
"There is also notarization business, which can also be placed in the litigation department."

"The most critical aspect of the Xinjian Bo attack case is whether the late Xinjian Bo Wang Chengxun ever filed a memorial saying that Wang Xianda was not his son."

"The imperial court is not specifically responsible for this kind of thing, and the memorial cannot be found now, so it cannot be drafted."

"If something like this happens again in the future, ask them to go to a notary office for notarization, and use the notarized document as the basis for sentencing."

"The imperial court does not need to get involved in such trivial matters. It accepts all memorials."

This is also necessary, and the Litigation Division has added another function.

Then Zhu Youjian set up the Penalty Department in the Ministry of Punishment, which was responsible for regulating penalties at all levels and the execution of court judgments, managing prisons and exiles, and educating and reforming criminals. The original Congjiupin Prison was also managed by the Punishment Department.

In this way, the Ministry of Criminal Affairs has gathered four departments: the General Affairs Department, the Legal Affairs Department, the Litigation Department, and the Penalties Department, which are equivalent to the four departments except the Household Department. The responsibilities of these departments may be large or small, but they are all indispensable and can support the Ministry of Justice.

Yuan Keli thought about it and felt that although the Ministry of Punishment no longer had judicial functions, the added legal and litigation functions were not bad. We can give an explanation to the Ministry of Punishments so that the importance of the Ministry of Punishments will remain above that of the Ministry of Works and not be at the bottom of the Six Ministries.

In this way, those officials in the Ministry of Punishment who are waiting for review should have little resistance and affairs will not be disrupted. So he agreed and said to the emperor:

"As long as it is not a random change, I have no objection."

"I just don't know who your Majesty plans to let preside over it. How can the local Sentencing and Prosecution Department be changed?"

Hearing his caution, Zhu Youjian said:
"We won't change the local area for the time being. We will first straighten out the three judicial departments of the imperial court: the Criminal Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple."

"As for the selection of the host, I plan to arrange for a minister to be responsible for the restructuring of the Three Laws Division."

"This person must have experience in serving in the Three Law Departments, and must be a court minister. He must have the ability and prestige to promote the restructuring work and achieve the purpose of the restructuring."

"Does Yuan Qing recommend such a candidate?"

Yuan Keli thought for a while and felt that the emperor's requirements were too high. He did not find such a minister in the court. I can only say to the emperor:
"The old minister is incompetent and has no candidates to recommend."

"It's better to let the ministers recommend it, or let the Three Law Departments recommend it."

Zhu Youjian laughed, ignored Ting Tui, pointed at Yuan Keli and said:

"Yuan Qing is too modest!"

"Aren't you the most suitable candidate?"

"You served as a local official. You were promoted to Shizhong because of your political performance. You were appointed by the imperial court as censor. Your reputation for integrity is known to the world."

"Without a minister like you in the government, how can I dare to promote the restructuring of the Three Laws Division?"

"Yuan Qing, you are the best candidate!"

Being so praised by the emperor that he felt dizzy, Yuan Keli was moved by the emperor's regard and hurriedly said humbly:
"How can a veteran serve in the Ministry of War preside over the restructuring of the Three Laws Division?"

"Your Majesty, please choose someone else, or let the ministers recommend you."

Hearing Ting Tui again, Zhu Youjian shook his head and rejected it, saying:
"This is not a permanent official position and should not be recommended by the court."

"Otherwise, someone will continue to elect ministers to preside over the Three Laws Division according to the usual practice."

"The three law departments will still have to operate independently in the future. It is enough to temporarily set up one minister to assist the three law departments."

Speaking of his reasons, Zhu Youjian decided directly:
"I plan to give Yuan Qing the title of Right Capital Censor and assist in the restructuring of the Three Laws Division."

"Before the Minister of Punishment and the Censor of Zuodu take office, I will temporarily take charge of the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Inspectorate. Zhang Jiude, Minister of Dali Temple, I will ask him to cooperate with your work." This means handing over the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Inspectorate, and Dali Temple. It can be said that he has great trust.

As long as Yuan Keli has a little selfishness, he may end up in a bad situation.

However, Zhu Youjian trusted Yuan Keli and believed that this minister would not let him down.

Yuan Keli really deserved his trust, and he no longer struggled with the matter of Ting Tui, and accepted the appointment without hesitation.

In his heart, he also thought what the emperor said made sense——

Except for himself, those ministers who are attached to the eunuch party are not suitable candidates.

If those people are allowed to preside over the restructuring of the Three Laws Division, they will probably become the emperor's puppets, allowing the emperor to control the Three Laws Division, and even be infiltrated by Jin Yiwei.

That was a situation he didn't want to see, so he took over this responsibility after the emperor came up with reasons why it was not appropriate for him to be promoted and appointed him with a higher title.

From then on, the restructuring of the Sanfa Division was handed over to Yuan Keli.

The emperor has already made detailed arrangements for the organizational restructuring of the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Only the matter of Dali Temple has not yet been concretely arranged.

After Yuan Keli became the Associate Minister of the Three Justice Departments, the first thing he proposed was the establishment of the General Adjudication Administration:

"The current affairs of Dali Temple are handed over to the General Administration of Trial and Punishment, and Zuo Shaoqing is in charge."

"How should the General Adjudication Administration, which You Shaoqing is responsible for, and the independent courts at all levels be set up?"

Zhu Youjian said:
“After receiving cases to be tried, the General Adjudication Administration will transfer them to specialized courts based on the classification of the cases.”

"In accordance with the six laws of the Ming Dynasty, including officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and labor, we established official courts, civil courts, etiquette courts, military courts, criminal courts, and engineering courts, and then specially established aristocratic courts, economic courts, and labor courts."

"These nine courts are all specialized courts, responsible for the trial of related cases. Judges of the fifth grade are appointed as presiding judges, and judges of other grades serve as judges and are responsible for the trial of cases."

"The departments involved can also send out jurors to supervise the trial and express relevant opinions."

He also gave examples of specific cases and said:

"For example, most cases involving eunuchs involve officials and are tried by the official court. Cases involving official duties-related crimes stipulated in the official law must be tried by the official court."

"The Noble Tribunal is responsible for judging cases involving nobles and clans. The Shuntian nobles and local chieftains have special status, and they are also tried by the Noble Tribunal. After the verdict comes out, I will make the final decision."

"For example, the case of the Xinjianbo attack will be tried by the aristocratic court from now on. Don't let them make trouble in the court from time to time. After the verdict comes out, it will be submitted to me."

Being a little bored with Xin Xinbo's case, Zhu Youjian specifically mentioned it and said:
"Civil courts are responsible for civil disputes, such as marriage, household registration, land and residence cases stipulated in household laws, as well as trivial cases such as swearing, spreading rumors and defaming reputation."

"The criminal court is responsible for human life cases, as well as criminal cases that require criminal liability, such as assault and disability."

"The Ritual Court is responsible for cases stipulated in etiquette and law, such as violations of etiquette and sacrifice, as well as cases related to religion."

"The Engineering Court is responsible for cases related to construction quality, water conservancy projects and other industrial laws."

"The Economic Court is responsible for commercial cases; the Labor Court is responsible for cases involving labor relations, labor remuneration, etc., and protects the rights and interests of lower-level workers."

In addition to the aristocratic court, the economic court, and the labor court, the other six courts are basically responsible for the trial of related cases according to the six laws divided by the Ming law. Yuan Keli knew this very well and felt it was clear at a glance, and asked about the military court that the emperor had not mentioned:

"How should a military court be set up?"

"His Majesty once said that he would establish a military court and a military supervision office in the Ministry of War to be responsible for military affairs."

"In the future, will military courts be held in Dali Temple or in the Ministry of War?"

Zhu Youjian referred to the practices of later generations and said:
"The military courts are supervised by the Ministry of War and operate independently internally. Except for the review of the death penalty, which needs to be submitted to Dali Temple, the trials are completely independent."

"The enforcement of military law is entirely the responsibility of military courts. If military personnel are involved in other disputes, the military court should decide whether to temporarily suspend their status as military personnel and hand them over to other courts for trial based on the circumstances. Or they may cooperate with each other to conduct a joint trial."

"The Ministry of War must protect soldiers and not let them be bullied by the local government."

Yuan Keli cursed in his heart, thinking that if it was the early days of the Republic of China, it would have been good if military officers did not bully local officials. Now when local officials bully military officers, they just come back.

However, nowadays the border is troubled and we need to rely on soldiers. It is indeed necessary for the emperor to ask the Ministry of War to protect the soldiers.

The execution of military law trials also requires specialized courts.

Therefore, Yuan Keli agreed and decided to use this opportunity to co-chair the three judicial divisions to divide the responsibilities of the military court and other courts to reduce related disputes.

(End of this chapter)