The chief justice Xiao Yang said the country can take advantage of the good judicial practices of Western countries to facilitate domestic court efficiency and ensure better justice.

Addressing a work conference of high court presidents yesterday, Xiao said new efforts have greatly pushed forward the country's judiciary reform and quick integration with the international community,

Since the 1980s, China has adopted a number of advanced foreign judicial practices for its own reference.

Trial procedures, rules of evidence and credit systems have been constantly improved, and judges' professional training is also getting stricter, Ni Shouming, spokesman of the Supreme People's Court, said.

"One of the most important steps was the introduction of international intellectual property rights protection regulations," Ni told China Daily.

However, Xiao stressed that although foreign judicial systems may be mature and systematic, but "by no means should we work over domestic issues according to foreign theory frameworks and categories".

He said establishing a "fair, efficient and authoritative" judiciary system has to take the country's fundamental realities into consideration.

"We have already been taught lessons by copying foreign judicial practices," Xiao said.

The Chinese courts' practice of over-emphasizing the role of a lawyer and proof like their Western counterparts does no good to some underprivileged litigants who lack basic knowledge about the procedure of lawsuits or cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

"Such practices often result in an untrue ruling, leading to the increasing number of appeals and complaints in some places," Xiao said, adding that courts of all levels will give more legal help and pre-lawsuit coaching to vulnerable groups.

In addition, Xiao also called for upgrading the system to improve the credibility of courts.

"The majority of the nearly 8 million cases dealt by Chinese courts annually are fair," Xiao said.

"However, we still have to endure criticism of injustice, and low judiciary credibility and the absence of authority, these are still acute challenges for Chinese courts."

Ni said some people do not trust courts. Instead, they choose to seek help from the media or other State administrative departments.

"All we need to do now is to continue upgrading current trial procedures," Ni said. "People will naturally turn to the courts once the procedures are complete and mature enough."

(China Daily July 6, 2007)