Chinese courts file more cases

The number of cases filed in Chinese courts from May 2015 to March 2017 hit 31 million, up 33.9 percent, said the Supreme People’s Court (SPC).

Courts changed their filing procedure from accreditation to registration in May 2015, which greatly lowered the barriers for filing a case.

Unlike the previous practice of examining cases before they are filed, cases are now accepted by courts on the spot as long as they meet basic requirements.

During the past two years, the number of state compensation cases increased the most, 102 percent, and private prosecutions of criminal cases rose by 60 percent. Administrative cases were up 54 percent while civil cases up 25 percent in the same period.

The problems of refusing or delaying filing cases by courts had been basically eradicated, said Gan Wen with the SPC.

So far, 2,605 courts have provided online case filing services. Seven high courts and seven intermediate courts are required to accept trans-regional cases.

Meanwhile, the SPC is studying abuse of litigation rights and plans to regulate such behavior.