Beijing courts give senior citizens a silver lining

Beijing judges have been improving the efficiency and quality of handling cases involving senior citizens, making every effort to protect the legitimate interests of the elderly and regulate the silver industry.

“We’ve intensified crackdowns on illegal and criminal activities that damage the rights of the elderly in recent years, and provided more convenient legal services for elderly litigants throughout the entire case-handling process,” Wang Guocai, president of the Beijing Chaoyang District People’s Court, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

For example, the court recently resolved a dispute between an 80-year-old woman surnamed Guan and a beauty salon through mediation.

Guan visited the salon for consultation after seeing its advertisements and paid 8,000 yuan ($1,113) for various beauty treatments, including eyebrow tattooing, lip augmentation, and eye bag removal. However, after the surgery, her lips became purulent and bled. She was diagnosed with a skin infection by a hospital and underwent more than 10 days of drug treatment.

Since there were obvious scars on her lips, Guan complained to the salon, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement. Therefore, Guan sued the salon, demanding compensation for her medical expenses and mental distress.

The court patiently listened to Guan's reasons for choosing the salon and her legal demands, and also inquired in detail about the specific medical beauty procedures and treatment process provided by the salon.

After thorough communication and a clear understanding of the legal issues, both parties agreed to resolve the dispute through mediation. Given that the problem was confined to her lips, Guan ultimately received a compensation of 1,000 yuan. The salon was also required to develop treatment plans tailored to the age and physical condition of elderly consumers in the future.

Wang revealed that in the past five years, the court concluded more than 500 contract cases involving elderly care services, guiding nursing institutions to better regulate their businesses and fully understand their duties.

“We’ve also attached importance to giving equal protection to each silver business, aiming to help ensure the healthy development of the elderly care industry and maintain a fair, efficient market order by rule of law,” he said.

In addition, the court held nearly 20 seminars with government departments, academies and associations to strengthen research on new challenges in the elderly care industry, so as to improve the professionalism of relevant case handling, he added.