司法制度（judicial system）, 是指一个国家的法院组织体系, 以及有关法院的性质、任务、组织原则和工作制度的法律规范的总和。中国现代的民事司法制度初步定型于20世纪70年代末至80年代初期, 由《中华人民共和国宪法》《中华人民共和国人民法院组织法》《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》等共同构成其规范基础。 20世纪70年代以后, 世界上西方和东方主要国家普遍掀起了民事司法改革的浪潮。在英、美、加、澳、法、德等西方国家, 民事司法改革运动普遍被冠名为“接近正义”或深受其影响。“接近正义”（Access to Justice）一词最初源于“佛罗伦萨计划”, 即以佛罗伦萨为中心的几项研究计划。“接近正义”与其说是新理论的创设, 不如说是对欧美国家在20世纪70年进行的民事司法改革尝试的阶段性总结。 同样是在20世纪70年代, 中国正在酝酿一场伟大的改革运动。1978年12月, 中国共产党第十一届中央委员会第三次全体会议在北京召开, 作出了把党和国家工作中心转移到经济建设上来、实行改革开放的历史性决策。在改革开放初期定型的民事司法制度, 随着改革开放的推进, 民事司法制度很快出现了一些不适应性。大约自1987年起, 部分地方法院就开始围绕“强化当事人举证责任”展开讨论和改革探索, 其后改革沿着“强化当事人举证责任——庭审方式改革——审判方式改革——审判制度改革——诉讼制度改革——司法制度改革”的轨迹不断发展, 进入21世纪后形成了声势浩大的司法改革运动, 标志就是2003年在中央直接领导下设立的“中央司法体制改革领导小组”。2012年以来, 随着中国特色社会主义进入新时代, 中国的民事司法改革也呈现全局化和纵深推进的趋势。本文试图在对中国的民事司法改革历史进程进行概括的基础上, 重点讨论改革的主要议题与展开逻辑, 以及中国与欧美民事司法改革的异同, 阐释以“司法为民”为主题的中国式民事司法改革的特质。

The judicial system refers to the totality of legal norms regarding the organizational system of a country’s courts and the nature, duties, organizational principles, and work systems of the courts. China’s modern civil judicial system is based on the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the Basic Law of the People’s Courts of the People’s Republic of China, and the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, which were enacted in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since the 1970s, major Western and Eastern countries around the world have comprehensively reformed their civil judicial systems. In Western countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany, the civil law reform movement is generally referred to as “Access to Justice” or has been greatly influenced by it. The term “Access to Justice” originally originated from the “Florence Project,” a research project centered in Florence. Rather than being the creation of a new theory, “Access to Justice” is a step-by-step summary of the civil law reform attempts made by European and American countries in the 1970s. Even in the 1970s, China was carrying out a major reform movement. In December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing, making the historic decision to shift the focus of the party and the state to economic construction and implement reform and opening up. The civil judicial system, which was established in the early days of reform and opening up, began to show some incompatibility as the reform and opening up progressed. Starting around 1987, some local courts began discussing and exploring reforms centered on “strengthening the burden of proof of the parties.” Since then, it has continued to develop in the order of “strengthening the burden of proof of the parties - reforming the court trial method - reforming the trial system - reforming the litigation system - reforming the judicial system,” and a large-scale judicial reform movement has been formed since the 21st century. Its symbol is the “Central Judicial System Reform Leading Small Group”, which was established in 2003 under the direct guidance of the central government. Since 2012, as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, China’s civil judicial reform has also shown a trend of globalization and deepening development. This article outlines the historical process of China’s civil judicial system reform, focuses on the major issues of reform and development logic, examines the similarities and differences between China, Europe, and the United States’ civil judicial system reform, and attempts to interpret the characteristics of China’s civil judicial system reform with the theme of “Judicial System for People.”