Pretrial proceedings began as purely instrumental proceedings in
the service of trials. With the development of judicial practice and theory,
especially under the high litigation pressure, increasing numbers of countries
begin to grant independence to pretrial procedures, endorse its credentials as
an alternative to resolving disputes without a trial, and increasingly recognize
the role of pretrial procedures in improving trial efficiency. Now, consensus
has been reached on the three functions of pretrial process, including sorting
out disputes, fixing procedures and promoting reconciliation. Among all the
categories of pretrial procedure, the presiding subject of pretrial procedure is
very controversial. The opposition between integration system and separation
system has been existing, and the debate and discussion about whether the
auxiliary personnel such as the judge assistant can preside over the trial never
stop. Traditionally, there has been more support for separation, with the view
that the presiding judge should not have pre-trial access to the case. However,
with the development of practice and concept, the integration system seems to
be more rational, and the trial judges are gradually accepted to preside pretrial
procedures by scholars.