Han Ximin
ximhan@126.com
THE First Circuit Court of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) in Shenzhen started hearing its first case at a court session yesterday, one month after its inauguration.
The hearing of a lawsuit brought by Jiangxi Saiwei LND Solar Energy Hi-tech Co. against Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Group marked the first case after a reform of China’s judicial system.
Saiwei appealed to the SPC after Guangxi Higher People’s Court tried its contract dispute with Yuchai, which involves 300 million yuan (US$48.78 million), in 2011.
Although the circuit court didn’t hand down a verdict after hours of debate, some law experts attending the hearing said they thought the circuit court would be able to solve disputes that couldn’t be easily solved at local courts and improve judicial efficiency. The court is commissioned with the authority of the SPC.
“A case like this that involves 300 million yuan could face obstacles in local courts. The circuit court, which can’t be influenced by local forces, can manifest judicial justice and make the public believe that the law is the final way to solve disputes,” said Ye Lin, vice president of China’s Commercial Law Research Institute.
The circuit court in Shenzhen received requests to take on more than 500 cases since its inauguration at the end of January and decided to handle 16 of them. More than 400 cases were submitted by residents of Guangdong Province.
Jiang Ping, former president with China University of Political Science and Law, said “social justice” is the direction of the judicial reform. The establishment of the circuit court, meant to eradicate interference from local forces, is supposed to guarantee justice and efficiency.
The circuit court in Shenzhen mainly handles major administrative, civil and commercial cases, which should be heard by the SPC, in the provinces of Guangdong and Hainan, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
At the fourth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in October 2014, lawmakers decided to set up two circuit courts in Shenzhen and Shenyang in a move to facilitate the public’s ability to file cases in their local communities and have their disputes resolved more quickly.
All judges working in the circuit courts will be selected and sent by the SPC in Beijing.
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