Press
GeorgetownTexas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Keith Hutchinson
Public Communications Director
(512) 930-3690
January 25, 2010

Chinese Legal Officials Visit Teen Court Today

Three legal scholars, a judge, and a lawyer from China will be visiting the City of Georgetown's Teen Court session this evening. The officials have been invited to Central Texas to learn about the U.S. legal system through the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program. The Department of State is working with the International Hospitality Council of Austin, a nonprofit organization, to coordinate the visit.

In the regular Monday evening Teen Court session, the Chinese legal officials will observe as teen prosecution and defense attorneys argue their cases before Municipal Court Judge Randall Stump. The sentence of each teen defendant in Teen Court is decided by a jury of teenaged students.

Georgetown’s Teen Court was chosen by the Department of State as an example of a specialty court in the U.S. system. Pam Mohamed with IHCA suggested the Teen Court program after hearing a news story last year that it had been named the top teen court program in the state. The IHCA coordinates visits for the U.S. Department of State for visitors from around the world who come to the area on educational and cultural programs.

The visitors from China include:

  • Dr. Zaoxing Lai, deputy dean and associate law professor at Xiangtan University Law School in Xiangtan
  • Dr. Weihai Li, vice director and associate professor of military law, Institute of Military Law, Chinese University of Political Science and Law in Beijing
  • Dr. Renshan Liu, dean and law professor, Law School, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan
  • Mr. Shusheng Liu, presiding judge, Third Criminal Division, Supreme People’s Court in Beijing
  • Ms. Shuying Yao, director of the Heilongjiang Tianfu Law Firm in Harbin

 

Two U.S. Department of State interpreters will accompany the Chinese delegation, as well as Victoria Lippman, executive director of IHCA. The officials are expected to arrive at the court at 101 E. Seventh Street at 5 p.m. Teen Court cases begin at 6 p.m. and will end when cases are finished, usually about 7:30 or 8 p.m. Teen Court sessions are open to the public.