China’s top judge Zhou Qiang hopes that this year the judicature can further improve its capabilities, offering “last mile” services for the public.
Chinese courts are exploring innovative ways to improve a diversified dispute resolution mechanism to better meet the public’s needs for judicial services, said Zhou, president of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), China’s top court, in a recent exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV).
The mechanism, which reflects a new concept of dispute resolution, features guidance from the state, promotion by the judicature, participation by the public, diversified and simultaneous resolution measures, and support by the law, Zhou told CCTV’s Legal Report. The concept is in line with the effort to modernize China's governance system and governance capability, he added.
It also helps resolve conflicts and disputes in a timely and reasonable fashion so as to safeguard people’s interests and rights and promote social harmony, he said.
Zhou noted that China has a long tradition of reconciling disputes. Through people’s mediation as well as judicial and administrative mediation, disputes can be properly resolved without undermining harmony between concerned parties.
The mechanism also gives full play to the advantages of the community self-governance system and the judicature’s functions, Zhou said. The diversified dispute resolution mechanism is good for resolving disputes because the self-governance system is conducive to resolving conflicts in a timely manner and the judicature ensures enforcement of such settlements, he explained.
Chinese courts are combining non-litigation and litigation means to better resolve conflicts and disputes. In Meishan, a city in southwest China’s Sichuan province, disputants who prefer dispute resolution through mediation can choose that method on the court’s litigation service platform and the settlement is then confirmed by the court to ensure its implementation. Zhou said the measure is popular among local people, with 80 percent of conflicts in the city having been resolved through non-litigation means.
The judicature is working to better satisfy the public’s judicial needs. The SPC is promoting the Meishan experience among Chinese courts and encouraging them to set up a variety of standard mechanisms that combine litigation and non-litigation means in order to establish an all-round, multi-tier and comprehensive dispute resolution mechanism, Zhou said.
Local courts also have explored many innovations, including making use of information technology for online and offline interactions as well as mediation of disputes through Internet based hearings. Some other courts have hired competent experts to mediate disputes involving specialized knowledge such as in health care, and achieved desirable results.
As the diversified dispute resolution mechanism has been constantly improved, its effect has become increasingly obvious, Zhou said.
