The BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum opened in New Delhi, India, on Sept 5. Zhang Jun, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.
The BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum opens in New Delhi, India, on Sept 5. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
"Over the past 20 years since the establishment of the BRICS cooperation mechanism, it has gradually evolved from an 'anchor' for economic and trade cooperation into a comprehensive platform for deepening political mutual trust, people-to-people exchanges and judicial cooperation," Zhang said.
Zhang highlighted the three proposals made by China at a virtual BRICS Summit in September last year on upholding multilateralism to defend international fairness and justice; upholding openness and win-win cooperation to safeguard the international economic and trade order; and upholding solidarity and cooperation to foster synergy for common development. The proposals provided a Chinese approach to advancing BRICS cooperation, he said.
Zhang noted that judicial organs in BRICS countries are facing new common challenges and shouldering greater responsibilities amid accelerating changes unseen in a century.
Zhang expressed hope that judicial communities of BRICS countries would uphold the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, respect each other and build mutual trust, deepen mutual learning among civilizations, strengthen practical cooperation and support sound economic and trade development. He called on both sides to focus on digital justice and improve the quality and efficiency of judicial work, and work together to open up new prospects for judicial cooperation among BRICS countries and make greater contributions to building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace.
Surya Kant, chief justice of India, presided over the opening ceremony. Judicial directors, chief justices and presidents of supreme courts from BRICS member and partner countries attended the ceremony and delivered remarks.
Zhang Jun, chief justice and president of the Supreme People’s Court of China, attends the opening ceremony of the BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum and delivers a keynote speech. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
Following the opening ceremony, Zhang delivered a keynote speech on "Mediation as a Strategic Mechanism for Resolving International Commercial Disputes in a Globalized Economy".
He said mediation, a dispute resolution mechanism with a history spanning thousands of years and broad application across different legal and cultural traditions, is an important means of bridging differences and facilitating cooperation, as well as a key support for improving the business environment and upholding the international economic and trade order.
In recent years, Chinese courts have promoted mediation as an approach featuring the coexistence of differences and win-win cooperation, and worked to develop an international commercial dispute resolution mechanism suited to high-quality development and high-standard opening up, Zhang said.
Chinese courts have sought to build new consensus on cross-border dispute resolution by promoting the culture of mediation, seeking to create a preferred destination for international commercial dispute resolution through institutional innovation and injecting new momentum into international commercial dispute resolution by leveraging digital technologies, Zhang noted, adding that they have deepened practical cooperation through mutual learning among legal systems to jointly develop a new model of global mediation governance.
On the sidelines of the forum, Zhang met with heads of delegations from several countries. Drawing on the history of bilateral relations and judicial exchanges, he briefed them on China's development of the rule of law and the work of Chinese courts, and exchanged views on deepening bilateral judicial cooperation and contributing to global rule-of-law governance.
Zhang Jun meets with Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, Iran's judiciary chief. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
During his meeting with Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, Iran's judiciary chief, Zhang said that over the 55 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iran, bilateral relations have maintained sound and stable development, with the comprehensive strategic partnership making steady progress.
Zhang called for making good use of multilateral platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS, leveraging the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and using judicial cooperation to support economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges, thereby contributing to a more just and equitable global governance system.
Mohseni-Ejei voiced support for the proposals, saying that the traditional friendship between Iran and China remains strong. Iran stands ready to work with China to implement the proposed cooperation initiatives and further deepen judicial cooperation between the two countries, he added.
Zhang Jun meets with Surya Kant, chief justice of India. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
During his meeting with Surya Kant, Zhang said China and India are both countries with ancient civilizations, major developing countries and important members of the Global South, and that the two countries have a long history of exchanges and have forged a deep friendship.
He noted that the leaders of both sides have met on multiple occasions, guiding the continuous improvement of bilateral relations and steady progress in exchanges and cooperation. Judicial authorities of the two countries have continued to deepen exchanges and enhance mutual trust through multilateral platforms such as the SCO and BRICS, as well as through bilateral cooperation, he added.
Kant said India highly values the friendly exchanges between the judicial communities of the two countries and recognizes the importance of strengthening judicial exchanges. He expressed willingness to take the BRICS meeting as an opportunity to deepen practical exchanges in the judicial field and contribute to the advancement of the rule of law and the sound and stable development of bilateral relations.
Zhang Jun meets with Igor Krasnov, president of the Supreme Court of Russia. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
During his meeting with Igor Krasnov, president of the Supreme Court of Russia, Zhang noted that this year marks the 77th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia and the 30th anniversary of their strategic partnership of coordination. Thanks to the guidance of the two heads of state, the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era between the two countries has maintained a high level of development, bringing greater stability to the world, he said.
Zhang said that mechanisms jointly initiated by the supreme courts of China and Russia, including the BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum and the Meeting of Chief Justices of Supreme Courts of SCO Member States, have become important judicial cooperation platforms for safeguarding regional and world security and stability.
Krasnov spoke highly of the achievements of judicial cooperation between Russia and China and expressed willingness to further expand professional exchanges and personnel exchanges, and enhance coordination on multilateral judicial platforms, so as to jointly serve the development of the two countries as well as uphold international fairness and justice.
Zhang Jun meets with Andrei Shved, president of the Supreme Court of Belarus. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
During his meeting with Andrei Shved, president of the Supreme Court of Belarus, Zhang said China and Belarus enjoy strong political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation, with bilateral relations at their best in history.
Zhang highlighted the achievements of China's digital court development, including the establishment of a unified online platform for case handling and court administration and the use of artificial intelligence-assisted judicial systems.
Shved spoke highly of China's achievements in developing digital courts and said Belarus is willing to learn from China's experience and continue to deepen practical judicial cooperation, providing strong rule-of-law support for the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership between Belarus and China.
Zhang Jun holds friendly exchanges with presidents of supreme courts of Bolivia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Kazakhstan, as well as the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, who are also attending the BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
Zhang also held friendly exchanges with the presidents of the supreme courts of Bolivia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Kazakhstan, as well as the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, who attended the forum.
Yang Linping, vice-president of the SPC of China; Huang Mingyao, president of the Hebei High People's Court; and An Changhai, president of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region High People's Court, delivered speeches on topics including judicial guidance in ecological governance and the development of sustainable energy systems, challenges and prospects for procedural harmonization in cross-border enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, and artificial intelligence, digital innovation and the future development of judicial administration.
