??? SHENZHEN Party chief Wang Rong emphasized that first-class rule of law shall become a prominent characteristic of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. This will help guarantee that Shenzhen’s development will continue to foster a competitive, innovative and entrepreneurial environment fitting an internationally advanced city. As an important part of the city’s legal climate, the creation of a favorable environment for the rule of law depends greatly on the standards and quality of the judicial system. Futian District People’s Court, located in the central district of Shenzhen, has always been dedicated to building a first-class legal environment and has paid attention to optimizing working methods while strictly abiding by judicial law to provide a powerful guarantee of judicial administration for people from different countries and regions, with high-quality judicial processes. Judicial justice In recent years, amid the fast economic and social development of Futian District, the number of cases handled by the Futian court has rapidly increased. In 2011, the number of cases accepted and heard exceeded 36,000 and the number of cases handled by each judge reached almost 365, presenting judges with arduous tasks. Despite the high-pressure workload, the Futian court has always adhered to a work ethic of “handling cases in a standardized manner and in accordance with law,” striving to defend fairness and justice while handling each case with a rigorous, realistic attitude that emphasizes quality proceedings to ensure the justice and efficiency of each case. Justice for the people The Futian court has introduced a series of innovative initiatives to provide convenient litigation access for all parties. In April, the court’s Litigation Services Center was opened to provide judicial services including litigation direction, case acceptance, legal assistance, pre-litigation joint investigation, pre-trial mediation, expedited petty-sum judgments, litigation cost reductions and remissions, etc., offering one-stop, “outpatient-style” service to satisfy demands of all concerned parties. In light of the new requirements and conditions of the modern information era, the Futian court places great emphasis on the functional construction of litigation network services and vigorously promotes online case registration, case registration by appointment, online inquiry and online Q&A, as well as other online services, by means of its official Web site and microblog, to facilitate public participation in litigation through the network. Meanwhile, with increasing case-handling pressure, the Futian court also strives to promote reforms of the “division of simple and complicated cases,” adopt different working methods to handle cases of different characteristics, establish rapid conflict-resolving mechanisms characterized by “quick mediation, fast trial and immediate enforcement” and launch such measures as “serving the legal instruments at night,” “night court” and other special services to meet the public’s requirements on the convenience and speed of judicial proceedings. Transparent judiciary The Futian court has always placed great emphasis on a transparent judiciary and has earnestly implemented comprehensive disclosure requirements to enhance the authority of the judiciary. Those efforts include, firstly, comprehensively implementing various systems with regard to trials and enforcement in a transparent manner; secondly, striving to invite MPC deputies and CPPCC members to witness the judicial process and oversee the court, and disclosing the trial implementation process to MPC deputies and CPPCC members; thirdly, through revising and upgrading the court’s official Web site, enhancing the inquiry function and enriching the site’s content; fourthly, exploring a trial Web cast and carrying out trial Web cast activities via the microblog and Web site; and fifthly, through such activities as Court Open Day, providing opportunities for citizens to get close to the court, and learn about and understand its work. The Futian court is the first court in Shenzhen to carry out a Court Open Day. More than 20 sessions have been held. Through the activity, numerous citizens have had the opportunity to enter the Futian court to have direct contact with the court’s work through an unveiling of the mysterious judiciary. The Court Open Day on June 29, dedicated to foreign citizens and citizens of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, was specially designed to greatly enhance expatriates’ understanding of the Chinese court system. In the near future, in order to mobilize social forces, the court will recruit 30 “voluntary mediators” from all walks of life. This original initiative has received praise from all sectors of society. (Xie Ting, Wang Shuzhang) | 