Courts plan for more global cases

Chinese courts will make further efforts to ensure justice during the development of the Belt and Road Initiative with improved judicial services for legal disputes involving foreign entities.

The Supreme People’s Court plans to set up a dispute resolution center for cases related to the Initiative, and further develop its international maritime judicial research institute, Liu Jingdong, deputy head of the fourth civil division of the top court, said on Monday.

The Belt and Road Initiative, put forward by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to promote free trade, infrastructure construction and people-to-people exchanges among different continents. More than 100 countries and international organizations are participating in it.

However, more interactions with foreign entities have also resulted in an increase in foreign-related disputes.

Figures from the top court show that since last year, more disputes have involved Asian, Middle Eastern and European countries, including Singapore, India, Malaysia, Russia and Kazakhstan, and many have involved cross-border contract projects and international logistics.

This year, judicial services will be further improved to safeguard the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, Liu said, adding that the top court plans to draft more legal interpretations on laws applied in cases concerning foreign entities as well as related judicial principles to facilitate judges’ rulings.

For example, detailed guidelines will be put together on how to recognize and enforce foreign rulings in civil and commercial cases, on how to handle labor disputes involving maritime crews, and on how to manage damages and compensation for maritime resources and ecological pollution.

The procedure on loss assessments for maritime pollution will be standardized and the application of laws on waterway transport will be pinned down, according to the top court.

To better guide courts across the country in handling foreign-related cases, the top court on Monday also made public 10 typical lawsuits. They cover areas such as marine pollution, the enforcement of brokerage contracts among companies in foreign locations, and the recognition and enforcement of a foreign court ruling.