The Supreme People’s Court issued a white paper on Chinese courts’ judicial reform at a press conference in Beijing on Feb 29.

The bilingual white paper, in both Chinese and English, contains informative graphics and texts for a better understanding China’s judicial reform and highlights the progress and achievements Chinese courts have made in this area since 2013.

According to the paper, Chinese courts’ reform always sticks to a problem-solving approach, with the basic goal of “letting the people feel fairness and justice in every single case”. Giving a top priority to people’s most pressing needs in judicial services, the courts have rolled out pioneering reform measures to eliminate factors that restrict judicial fairness.

Li Shaoping, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, pointed out that a new case-filing registration system that took effect on May 1, 2015 has made case filing easier.

Litigation service platforms using IT technologies, such as litigation service halls, the court litigation services website susong.chinacourt.org and the “12368” hotline, are all aimed to better serve those in need, Li said.

Chinese courts have set up a mechanism for solving diverse disputes through non-litigation channels, such as mediation organizations, in civil litigation cases involving family disputes, traffic accidents, protection of consumer rights and interests, real estate services, and settlements of insurance claims, Li added. Last year, the SPC issued special rules to reduce official interference in judicial activities, Li said. According to the rules, judicial personnel must keep detailed records of interference. A total of 12 typical cases were released by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The names of officials and judicial personnel who had interfered in judicial cases were made public. Li urged courts at all levels to push ahead with judicial reform, while calling for strong judicial support for the Chinese dream.

Full context of the white paper