Maintaining stability key

Maintaining stability key - top judge

By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-20 08:37

Maintaining social stability amid the global economic slowdown should be courts' top priority, the country's top judge said on Friday.

The judiciary must position itself to deal adequately with the impact of the economic downturn for at least the coming year, Wang Shengjun, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said at its annual conference.

The warning came amid worries that shrinking demand for exports will damage economic growth and trigger large-scale layoffs.

The SPC will "actively provide sound judicial security and judicial services for maintaining the nation's smooth and relatively fast economic development", Wang said.

"The most urgent task is to resolve economic, civil and administrative disputes caused by the financial crisis," he said.

The situation has led to a large number of financial disputes particularly in eastern coastal areas, he said.

"We will closely monitor issues such as corporate bankruptcies, labor disputes and breaches of contracts, as well as enforcement issues brought about by the financial crisis," Wang said.

Similarly, Cao Jianming, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, called on prosecutors to maintain sound economic order through their judicial duties.

"We must crack down on crime, especially in the areas of finance, securities and real estate," he said.

Effective measures must be used to deal with economic disputes, Cao said.

"Steps such as sealing up properties, freezing assets, and detaining and arresting individuals, must be carefully taken to ensure firms' lawful rights and interests are safeguarded, and that the negative effects of disputes are minimized," he said.

Wang called on judges to "try every means to find a win-win or even multiple-win solution for all parties in cases related to the financial crisis".

"Judges should deal not only with the cases according to law, but also take into account the specifics of each dispute," he said.

Disputes involving contractual, real estate and labor issues brought about by the economic slowdown have increased significantly this year, due to the foreign investors fleeing failing businesses, the suspension of failed investments and the transformation of State-owned firms into private entities, Wang said.

In the first 10 months of the year, the number of cases involving securities rights and interests was up almost 500 percent on the same period of last year, while the number of shareholder disputes in the same period was up 60 percent, SPC spokesman Ni Shouming said recently.

The number of cases involving insider trading of securities, stock price manipulation, and automobile and labor disputes, has also risen sharply this year, he said.

In the first 10 months, the number of labor disputes grew by nearly 94 percent, while the number of disputes due to the privatization of State-owned firms was up by 71 percent, he said.

Liu Junhai, a professor in business law at Renmin University of China, told China Daily that the number of economic disputes will be higher than estimated due to the "tangle of internal and external risks".

"Cases will be more complicated, which means they will be more difficult to handle and will require more judicial resources," he said.

Courts should be more service-oriented so they can play a protective role for economic development, instead of the "crackdown" role they have taken in the past, Liu said.