Smart courts ease access to legal services

Surging workload

Yang Yan, chief judge with the case-filing division at Beijing High People's Court, welcomed the introduction of one-stop services and diversified dispute resolutions, as they are helping to alleviate the burden on judges at a time when they are drowning in a rising flood of cases.

Statistics from Beijing High People's Court show that fewer than 3,000 judges in the capital resolved more than 998,000 cases in 2018, while the average number of cases solved by each judge rose to 357 from 257 in 2017.

The number of disputes is still surging as a result of rapid economic development and people's growing legal awareness. From January to August last year, 745,244 cases were filed with Beijing's courts, about 80,000 more than during the same period in 2018, the statistics showed.

"We have taken measures, such as the adoption of technologies, to intensify the efficiency of litigation, as well as guiding or encouraging people to end cases through diversified resolutions," Yang said, referring to the rapid growth in the number of disputes and the corresponding increase in hearings.

Haidian District People's Court deals with more than 100,000 cases a year. Local residents can obtain a wealth of legal services at the court's one-stop litigation service center, such as one-on-one consultations with lawyers, assistance with legal matters, help with writing and researching judicial documents, and case analysis to help them decide the best way to handle their dispute, according to Zhang.

To ensure efficient services, the court cooperated with four universities, including China University of Political Science and Law and Renmin University of China, and dispatched law school students as volunteers to share their knowledge and offer legal assistance to litigants.

"By providing supplementary knowledge, the volunteers can help our judges satisfy people's growing demand for simple legal services," Zhang said. "Meanwhile, the students can also guide some older people to better use the technology available at the center."

In addition, litigants who find it difficult to attend court can complete the legal process, such as filing cases, via the tribunal's online platforms, like its website and WeChat account.

"These online services prevent litigants' questions from being overlooked when the judges are busy hearing other disputes," Zhang said.

Last year, more than 13,000 cases were filed through the online platforms, and over 4,000 of them came via the court's WeChat account, he added.