Another 50 interns are to join China's top court and spend six months helping judges there, increasing their understanding of the rule of law and building on the success of the first class of interns.

The project to educate judicial talent and provide a bridge between legal studies and practice — much like the role of a law clerk in the United States — was written into a work report for the Supreme People's Court this year.

Xu Jiaxin, a court administrator who heads the project, said the first class of interns ended their service on March 29. The 50, who were chosen from 32 universities nationwide, took part in a wide variety of court activities.

The second group, which was selected last week, will work at the court from May to October. They will work on every aspect of a lawsuit, from drafting documents, to collecting evidence and case materials, to offering their opinions on proposed verdicts.

"They play the role of legal assistants to our judges," Xu said. "The average number of cases an intern is involved in is 20, and the maximum would be 50."

Yuan Gang, an associate law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, praised the project as a key step in innovating legal education. Like the law clerk system in the US, intern positions are popular among law students.

"Law firms or courts in the US often recruit first-year law clerks from universities, and the job information is posted on campuses," he said. "The US applicants sign a short-term contract with employers, similar to the interns in our country."

However, unlike the Chinese interns, the US clerks attend face-to-face interviews with the judges they will assist and are paid for their work.

Yuan Ningning, a legal researcher at Beijing Normal University, said China's efforts to educate law students should be highlighted, as the country "is on the road to operating with a strong rule of law".

"In my view, the best practices, including the handling of disputes, in case hearings arise from grassroots judicial bodies," Yuan said.

Niu Yang, an intern in the first group, said he was excited to earn a place at the top court in a competitive process.

"More than 100 people applied for the intern opportunities within three days last year after our college posted the recruitment notice," said Niu, a third-year doctoral student majoring in law at the University of International Business and Economics.

About 60 percent of applicants were eliminated during a review process, and about 50 students were granted interviews with the university principal, said Niu, who was selected as an intern at the top court's civil tribunal.

"All candidates were later reviewed by the top court," he said.

Ran Rong, a court official who mentors the interns, said they worked as clerks initially, recording case hearings and learning how the court works.

"Recording is a good way to find out how a judge thinks about a case, how a prosecutor accuses defendants and how a defense lawyer operates, which is a must in being a judge," said Ran, who often handles the court's reviews in death penalty cases.

"No matter what roles the interns play — lawyers or prosecutors — the ability to discern problems in legal documents is a necessity and something they cannot learn in college," she added.

Xia Junli, another intern mentor at the top court's civil tribunal, said the second group of law students should be educated in line with what they are learning in college.

"The interns can experience the responsibilities judges should take and how dignified we are in case hearings, which they cannot learn from books," she said.