Beijing court speeds up handling of simple disputes

A Beijing court has streamlined the process for hearing simple disputes, to improve legal efficiency and ensure justice is served in a timely manner.

A tribunal at the Beijing Haidian District People's Court has accepted 2,636 civil and commercial cases this year, with 1,698 concluded, according to statistics provided on Tuesday.

In March, the average number of cases tribunal judges concluded was 83, the highest in the capital, the statistics showed.

"Generally, a civil or commercial case should be concluded within three months, but for cases where there are clear facts and sufficient evidence, we have accelerated the process of filing and hearing cases, allowing more time to deal with more complicated cases," the court said.

"We are also focusing on mediation efforts in simple disputes, aiming to resolve cases before they are sent to courtrooms."

For example, a woman surnamed Leng received her mediation document on Tuesday, within a week of the court accepting the case.

"My dispute involves the right to inherit family property," Leng said. "I sued another four family members over the inheritance a home left by my grandparents."

Wang Kege, the tribunal judge responsible for the case, told China Daily the case involved sufficient evidence and clear facts, "so I decided to conclude it promptly".

After the court accepted the case, Wang called Leng and the four defendants to inform them the trial would open soon and told them to be prepared.

On Tuesday, the trial lasted about 20 minutes, with the judge saying he was "glad to see the litigants agreed to solve their dispute through mediation".

To ensure the litigants did not have to return to the court again to collect mediation documents, the court sent the paperwork to them.

Tribunal judges usually contact litigants within three days of establishing that their disputes are simple or comply with the requirements for mediation, the court said.

"It makes sense to spend more time on more complex cases. Good time management is effective for improving efficiency and enables better sharing of workloads," the court added.