Smart courts ease access to legal services

Diverse resolutions

He added that the external mediators assist the court, and their professional services have accelerated dispute resolution.

Yang said that thanks to the non-litigation services, "judges have more time to deal with complicated disputes and study the laws to improve the quality of case hearings and further promote the rule of law".

Since August, many courts outside of Beijing have taken action to diversify dispute resolutions and ease access to litigation-related services.

Last year, mediation associations in Fujian province helped conclude about 119,000 disputes, while some 38,000 cases were resolved before their trial date, according to a report in People's Court Daily, the top court's official newspaper, last month.

From January to October, some 156,000 cases heard in provincial courts were ended by mediation or were concluded after litigants withdrew their lawsuits, a rise of 5.1 percent year-on-year, the paper said.

Zhang, from the court in Haidian, said many more improvements can be made, even though there have been a number of achievements in judicial efficiency and more cases have been resolved in diverse legal ways.

Most of the cases filed online are brought by representatives of internet and technology companies, "because lots of litigants, especially older ones, have insufficient trust in the online services", he said, adding that many people prefer to settle disputes via face-to-face discussions with judges.

Therefore, to further improve ease of access to litigation, it is essential to deepen people's trust so they will understand that the legal services provided online are the same as those offered in courts, he added.

He suggested that the internet software or technologies applied in building smart courts should be unified and updated promptly to ensure that the legal data and services they provide are accurate and of the highest quality.