国内英语资讯:China Focus: China launches first Internet court in e-commerce hub_时事

国内英语资讯:China Focus: China launches first Internet court in e-commerce hub

In 2017, the Zhejiang provincial higher people's court initiated a pilot online court program at three district courts in Hangzhou to handle online trade, copyright and financial services disputes.

So far, a total of 15 courts in Zhejiang have joined the program and dealt with nearly 23,000 cases.

"With more cases accepted, we found it hard to judge a case according to traditional lawsuit regulations," said Li Shaoping, deputy head of Supreme People's Court.

The Internet court was therefore outlined at the 36th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform in June as the latest effort to deepen judical reform through lifting the efficiency of justice, improving the hearing procedures of Internet-related cases and promoting the sound development of the Internet industry.

The new court allows both sides to submit evidence in real time and is connected with big data to help judges make decisions.

"For example, the system can present the judge with similar cases as references in the course of the proceeding," said Wang. "The judge can also check the transaction history at any time when dealing with cases involving online transaction disputes."

"By setting up the Internet court, we hope to establish a professional platform to deal with Internet-related cases with new concepts and specially-designed regulations," Li said.

Zhou Hanhua, law researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Internet court involved the use of information technology in judicial procedures and process transformation.