Shanghai Courts broadcasting hearings online Go back »

2008-10-31 | Shanghai

COURTS in Shanghai are now broadcasting their hearings online, said the city's chief justice.

The live broadcasts are part of the city's efforts to implement open trials as part of China's procedural laws, according to Ying Yong, president of Shanghai People's Higher Court.

The live broadcasts help bring legal proceedings into the public eye, and may also encourage judges to improve their capabilities, said Ying during an online chat yesterday.

Three local courts, including Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court and Minhang District People's Court, had some of their hearings shown on Eastday.com and on the higher court's official Website, Ying said. Each had more than 90,000 viewers.

After one judge was seen taking a phone call during a hearing, judges are coming in for criticism. Shanghai courts have drafted rules covering judges' behavior, which includes their private lives and relationships with lawyers, Ying said.

Judges in Shanghai managed to settle 38,373 disputes among a total 50,479 they mediated last year, Ying said. The court in Changning District settled 98.58 percent of disputes it heard, he added.

About 339,000 cases were heard by city courts last year, with civil disputes accounting for more than 60 percent, Ying said, with about 90 percent solved in lower courts.

Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200807/20080701/article_365191.htm