Chinese courts make litigations easier through informatizing services

More than 95 percent of Chinese courts offered informatized litigation services last year, according to an annual report on the informatization of Chinese courts issued on Friday.

The report was released by the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, after assessing the development of informatization in 3,510 courts.

It said about 82.7 percent of courts have established websites to provide litigation services related to involved parties and lawyers, such as case inquiries, file inspections, and litigation guidelines. The relevant parties can also consult about relevant cases through the court's general hotline and send text messages to about 75 percent of courts.

Informatization also enables the courts at various levels to be more intelligent in the aspects of trials and management. As of last year, more than 3,000 courts have adopted means of informatization to support case file management and access.

On Nov 13, 2018, the total number of documents on the China Judgements' Online website had exceeded 55 million, and the total number of website visits had exceeded 20 billion.

In addition, the report showed that 2,824 courts assessed across China have the capacity to support timely generation of electronic documents of cases, which has paved the way to more convenient and intelligent management of judicial documents.

Last year, 2,703 courts have established the system to automatically recommend law articles after inputting case files. More than 1,500 courts can analyze verdicts for similar cases and provide a reference range based on big data.

The report also stated that Chinese courts are actively exploring mobile technology adoption to provide a platform for judges to informatize their work, allowing them to make use of mobile apps and other computer terminals to handle cases, discussions, and even hold trials.

In September 2017, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court developed a program based on instant messaging app WeChat to provide more convenient and efficient litigation services.

After three rounds of upgrades, the program now offers a function of holding hearings online for civil and commercial cases, as long as the involved parties and the judge agree to it.

The parties can enter the online court through facial recognition and presenting a piece of evidence. They can also hold cross examinations and debates during the online court session. The trial will be entirely recorded and videotaped.