China's Supreme People's Court is trying to ensure legal services are within easier reach of citizens by allowing online access to judicial documents and delivering case registrations to the homes of the handicapped and seniors.
According to a plan for facilitating judicial services for the people, put forward by the Supreme People's Court Wednesday, courts at different levels are now required to set up information centers and dispatch staff to take care of people's complaints and case inquiries.
Information about publicly-tried cases should be announced ahead of trials to ensure that people can sit in on the proceedings. Eligible applicants should be allowed to witness the trial by using hearing certificates or their ID cards, according to the plan.
Also, deputies to the people's congresses, the country's legislative body, and members of political consultative conferences, the country's advisory body, should be invited regularly to hearings.
Courts should gradually establish an information inquiry service for judgement and litigation documents, or make that information public online according to law if conditions permit.
A public hearing system could be introduced in execution cases, examination proceedings for case retrials and cases involving penalty reductions, parole or state compensation.
The plan went on to say, local courts should offer case registration services through the phone and Internet. They were also encouraged to deliver door-to-door service for the sick, disabled and seniors.
Courts and judicial personnel will be publicly reprimanded and held accountable if they attempt to persuade parties to withdraw lawsuits for the purpose of gaining higher case settlement rates and if they make unauthorized decisions to stop litigation and execution of court cases.
The proposals also advise courts to provide regular or flexible mobile services for people in remote areas and dispute-intensive regions.
Local courts should offer circuit and on-spot trials, as well as mediate or deal with cases there and then, according to the proposal.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2009)