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Civil Litigation in China and Europe pp 39–58Cite as

Case Management in China’s Civil Justice System

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Part of the book series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice ((IUSGENT,volume 31))

Abstract

The chapter discusses the establishment from top to bottom of a case management structure in the Chinese court system and the implementation of case quality evaluation index mechanisms. The author questions whether these mechanisms help to increase efficiency and enhance the quality of adjudication and the accountability of the Judicature. Specific attention is given to the people’s assessors’ joining the collegial panel to hear cases, the resolution of disputes by judges through mediation, the application of the simplified procedure to hear cases and the number of cases terminated within the prescribed time limits. In this chapter, it is stated that in China the focus should be shifted from speeding up litigation to improving adjudication with attention given to party initiative and the role of their attorneys.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See the speech delivered by Yu Lingyu, who was the director of the judicial reform office of the Supreme People’s Court, at the 2011 Annual Conference of China’s Civil Procedure Society.

  2. 2.

    See the speech delivered by Deputy Chief Justice Xi Xiaoming of the Supreme People’s Court at the 2011 Annual Conference of China’s Civil Procedure Society.

  3. 3.

    Ibidem.

  4. 4.

    Although under the Civil Procedure Law all four levels of people’s courts have first instance jurisdiction (original jurisdiction), the number of cases accepted by the Supreme People’s Court and the High People’s Court is very limited; thus heavy caseloads and the strain they put on the limited number of judges can especially be observed in the local and intermediate courts. See Several Opinions on Improving the Infrastructure of the Local People’s Courts under the New Circumstances issued by the Supreme People’s Court, available at: http://www.110.com/ziliao/article-202038.html (last consulted on 30 May 2013).

  5. 5.

    See the contribution of Yaxin Wang and Yulin Fu, Chap. 2 in this volume.

  6. 6.

    See Sheng Deyong, ‘The Public’s Lack of Trust in the Administration of Justice has Gradually Developed into a General Social Psychology’, available at: http://www.china.com.cn/policy/txt/2009-08/19/content_18362992.htm (last consulted on 27 July 2013).

  7. 7.

    Li Hao 2010.

  8. 8.

    See Guiding Opinions on the Evaluation of Case Quality (Test Implementation), available at: http://wenku.baidu.com/view/eb0b4ffd700abb68a982fb0e.html (last consulted on 20 June 2013).

  9. 9.

    ‘Important Speech of Wang Shengjun at the National High Court Presidents Conference in Beijing’, available at: http://www.court.gov.cn/xwzx/fyxw/zgrmfyxw/201012/t20101220_12360.htm (last consulted on 3 May 2013).

  10. 10.

    The Supreme People’s Court has published Guiding Opinions to Improve the Case Management System, available at: http://www.zjdpc.gov.cn/art/2012/6/25/art_791_77413.html (last consulted on 27 June 2013).

  11. 11.

    Ibidem.

  12. 12.

    Ibidem.

  13. 13.

    On media reports that the Jury Decision was generally enforced well as put forward by the supreme legislature and the supreme judicial branch, see Chen Yonghui 2007; Shi Ying 2008.

  14. 14.

    Peng Xiaolong 2011.

  15. 15.

    Li Hao 2010, p. 938.

  16. 16.

    Art. 4 of Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Civil Mediation Work of the People’s Court.

  17. 17.

    Xiao Jianguo and Huang Zhongshun 2011, p. 72.

  18. 18.

    Zhang Jiajun 2012, p. 44.

  19. 19.

    Ibidem.

  20. 20.

    See the record of the 2010 Annual Procedural Law Conference at the Guangdong Legal Science Society.

  21. 21.

    ‘The Mo Zhaojun Tragedy: Defendants Losing their Case and Committing Suicide and the Accused Judge not being Convicted in First Instance Criminal Proceedings’, available at: http://www.kaixin001.com/repaste/11747837_14198953.html#relation=parent&message=%7B%22loginprobe%22%3A1%7D&_=0.5245289303232721 (last consulted on 23 June 2013).

  22. 22.

    Ma Shoumin 2010a, p. 5.

  23. 23.

    Li Hao 2010, pp. 934–935.

  24. 24.

    Li Hao 2010, p. 942.

  25. 25.

    Survey Group of the Supreme People’s Court 2003, pp. 9–10.

  26. 26.

    See the provisions on time limits for first and second instance civil proceedings and civil proceedings involving foreign aspects in the Civil Procedure Law.

  27. 27.

    The Supreme People’s Court publishes Guiding Opinions to Improve the Case Management System, available at: http://www.zjdpc.gov.cn/art/2012/6/25/art_791_77413.html (last consulted on 27 June 2013).

  28. 28.

    See Record of the 2010 Annual Procedural Law Conference of the Guangdong Law Science Society.

  29. 29.

    Ma Shoumin 2010b, p. 5.

  30. 30.

    See the author’s interview notes relating to interviews with judges in the local courts in Guangzhou. These notes can be consulted on request.

  31. 31.

    Ma Shoumin 2010a, p. 5.

  32. 32.

    Wang 2008, p. 72.

  33. 33.

    Shen Kuan-Ling 2010, p. 302.

  34. 34.

    Taniguchi 1996, p. 78.

  35. 35.

    Ibidem, p. 79.

  36. 36.

    Ibidem, p. 94.

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Cai Yanmin

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  1. Cai Yanmin
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Correspondence to Cai Yanmin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    C.H. (Remco) van Rhee

  2. Peking University Law School, Beijing, Hai Dian District, People's Republic of China

    Fu Yulin

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Yanmin, C. (2014). Case Management in China’s Civil Justice System. In: van Rhee, C., Yulin, F. (eds) Civil Litigation in China and Europe. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7666-1_3

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