Beijing courts move online amid pandemic

Beijing courts have not stopped offering legal services during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to an online platform developed by the capital's High People's Court.

From Feb 3 to Jun 21, the yunfating — trial in the cloud — platform was used by courts in the city 115,856 times as an effective and efficient means to prevent litigation from spreading infections and reduce delays in lawsuits, the court said in a statement released recently. The platform can be accessed on smartphones or computers.

Litigants who attended online case hearings through the platform came from 17 countries and regions, it said.

Besides trials, the platform could also facilitate other legal services, including case filing, court ruling delivery and mediation, it added.

As the novel coronavirus outbreak has lasted for some time, the court made and issued several guidelines on regulating the judicial process and behaviors when hearing cases online, and upgraded the platform eight times to ensure a stable network environment, court official Sun Lingling said.

"We'll adapt the new norm of case hearings during the outbreak, making full use of the platform to meet litigants' demands and offer high-quality legal services," she said.