On April 23, Gao Xiaoli, vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China, delivered a keynote speech on dispute resolution at the 20th Meeting of Chief Justices of Supreme Courts of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States, which was held in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province. 

Her remarks focused on the role of the judiciary in preventing and resolving disputes through a diversified mechanism.

Gao said China has developed the diversified dispute resolution mechanism to address the contradiction between the surging number of legal cases and limited judicial resources. Chinese courts, she noted, playing guiding, promoting and safeguarding roles in the mechanism by issuing judicial recommendations in areas prone to frequent disputes to address the problem from the source. They encourage parties to resolve disputes through non-litigation methods such as mediation and arbitration and have built an integrated framework to connect litigation with alternative methods of dispute resolution, forming a unique Chinese model, according to Gao.

Gao also highlighted the use of digital tools in dispute resolution. Online platforms such as the mediation platform for the people's courts and several legal databases are helping courts resolve disputes more efficiently with improved quality, she said.

She expressed her hope to engage in deeper and more practical exchanges with judges from other SCO member states to build fair, efficient and accessible and low-cost mechanisms for dispute resolution.

The session was chaired by Li Zhanguo, president of the Zhejiang High People’s Court. Judicial representatives from Belarus, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan also presented their perspectives on strengthening dispute prevention and resolution through judicial innovation.