Qianhai, a 15-square-kilometer coastal strip in Nanshan District, is considering inviting Hong Kong residents to serve on juries in its court, which is still in a preparatory stage.

The move would be one of a series of new practices intended to build Qianhai into a special zone for rule of law, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Tuesday.

Qianhai, labeled South China's Manhattan, will be developed over the next eight years on reclaimed land as a cooperation zone for the modern service industries of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong residents who can expect to be selected as jurors in the Qianhai court must have professional legal backgrounds and will participate in trials that result in judgments made in line with the legal system on the Chinese mainland, while giving consideration to Hong Kong's laws and social values.

Some of the cases may even be handled by applying Hong Kong's laws, the paper said.

Moreover, the Qianhai court will also take the lead in reforms related to the professionalization of judges. A three-tier system will be established, which will include judges, assistant judges and ancillary judicial personnel.

Elite judges who have studied abroad will be selected from courts across the city to work in the Qianhai court. There will be more room for judges' career development and judges' pay will increase gradually.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily)