An inspection team led by the head of the Supreme People's Court (SPC)visited East China's Jiangsu province to review the work of local courts and the SPC's Third Circuit Court from April 20 to 22. 

In Suzhou, Zhang Jun, chief justice and president of the SPC, focused on local courts' efforts in environmental protection. He learned that a group of judges had helped raise locals' awareness of environmental protection in communities, enterprises, villages and towns in the Taihu Lake basin. 

Taihu Lake is the country's third-largest freshwater lake and a major source of drinking water for local residents.

The SPC team visits a circuit trial office of the Taihu Lake Basin Environmental Resource Tribunal on April 20, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

In Suzhou and Nanjing, the team was briefed on local practices of restoring the ecological environment, such as seed breeding and releasing activities, replanting and greening. 

In recent years, courts in Jiangsu have heard a group of landmark cases concerning environmental resources, some of which have been included in the lists of typical cases and guiding cases, even featuring in the environmental law database of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 

Through these cases, Cai Shaogang, president of the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court, and Chen Ying, head of the Nanjing Environmental Resource Tribunal, introduced the progress of and problems facing judicial protection of the environmental resources in Jiangsu. According to them, it's necessary to encourage more parties to participate in environmental protection. 

SPC President Zhang Jun (C) visits the litigation service center of the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court on April 20, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Zhang said that the judicial organs should join hands with the departments of public security, procuratorate, environmental protection, forestry and fishery, as well as research institutes to build a protection network. He called for efforts to raise public and administrative organs' awareness of environmental protection and rule of law with the help of typical cases.

The team visits an enforcement document delivery service center in Nanjing on April 21, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Accompanied by officials from Jiangsu High People's Court, the SPC team visited a local enforcement document delivery service center in Nanjing, and learned that the delivery of enforcement documents of several courts nearby is carried out by the center using the innovative "e-mail plus postal delivery" mode, which has greatly boosted the efficiency and success rate of delivery and helped improve the governance of litigation at the source.

Zhang (C) visits the mediation center of the Qinhuai Primary People's Court in Nanjing on April 21, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

At Qinhuai Primary People's Court in Nanjing, the team learned that the court had launched specialized mediation offices where mediators, judges, and assistants work together to resolve conflicts involving domestic affairs, labor disputes, and intellectual property rights through meditation. 

The Suzhou Intermediate People's Court adopted an innovative assessment mechanism for mediators and judges, so as to encourage them to better execute judgment. 

The SPC team, deputies to the National People's Congress, and experts and scholars hold a symposium at Jiangsu High People's Court on April 22, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

At the symposium at the Jiangsu High People's Court, Zhang called on the courts to combine theoretical learning with practical work, avoid formalism, conduct in-depth research and studies, adhere to a problem-orientated approach, go to the grassroots and frontline positions to learn about the actual situation, and to solve prominent problems in a targeted manner.

Improvement should be made to regulations and systems to ensure the effectiveness of the Party's education campaigns, he noted. 

The chief justice also urged courts and judges to address conflicts and disputes at the source and to better perform their duties in offering judicial suggestions and raising the awareness of the rule of law, so as to contribute to the high-quality growth of the economy and society. 

Zhang exhorted the heads of courts and tribunals to better shoulder their responsibilities, and proposed a scientific assessment system to motivate and promote the court staff's political, professional, and ethical qualities. 

The courts should actively accept supervision over their trial work from all sides, while the internal and external environment should be optimized for the judges to better perform their functions in accordance with the law, he added.

The team visits the staff of the SPC's Third Circuit Court on April 22, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]