China will host the first meeting of presidents of the supreme courts of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries in Shanghai from September 20 to 22, China's supreme court has announced.

 

"This is an important meeting held within the framework of SCO to further expand judicial cooperation," said Wan Exiang, vice-president of China's Supreme People's Court.

 

The theme of the meeting was "judicial justice and cooperation."

 

Wan said a major topic would be the establishment of a cooperation mechanism to deal with cross-border crime and strengthen judicial cooperation to fight the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism.

 

The presidents would also discuss the court's role in boosting social development, guaranteeing judicial justice and improving judicial efficiency.

 

The meeting, expected to draw about 50 participants from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, would issue a joint statement.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2006)