Shanghai makes progress in public interest lawsuits

Shanghai procuratorate institutions have achieved notable progress in public interest litigation since the city enforced a decision to enhance public interest litigation on July 1, 2020, according to a news conference held by the Shanghai People's Procuratorate on Tuesday.

A total of 2,104 cases were filed and 140 lawsuits were brought over the past year, a year-on-year increase of 80 percent and 382 percent respectively, according to the press release.

The Shanghai procuratorate attributed the rapid increase in public interest litigation to the establishment of a rapid response mechanism for handling cases that infringe on the interests of the public, including a smart real-time system complete with a speedy test lab to help with identifying clues and flexible channels to settle cases.

Notable progress has been made in six main areas, namely anti-pollution campaigns, food safety, public security, accessible services for elderly people, cultural relic preservation and personal information protection, according to Tu Chunhan, director of the Eighth Department of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate.

Taking cultural relic preservation as an example, Tu said, the Shanghai People's Procuratorate spent five months on supervision over revolutionary resource preservation, which was part of the centenary celebration of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Measures were adopted to facilitate the renovation of historic architecture in Shanghai and integrate the protection of revolutionary heritage with Party history education, Tu added.