China's case filing surges 30 percent after judicial reform

The number of legal cases filed in China from May to December 2015 hit nearly 10 million, up 29.5 percent year on year since the Supreme People's Court (SPC) simplified the filing system in April.

Since the establishment of a case register system, administrative cases have also increased by 66.5 percent over the same period of 2014, the SPC said in a whitepaper on judicial reform.

Suit documents were previously subjected to thorough, and lengthy, reviews, before the case was accepted. The reform requires that as long as cases are filed in accordance with the law, they should be registered on the spot.

Legal cases traditionally difficult for the public to file, which often involved housing demolition, land requisition and government information publicity, have also seen an increase in acceptance, the whitepaper said.

So far, 2,189 courts have online case filing facilities and 781 courts have apps, making the service more efficient.

The whitepaper also said a platform outlining all information on court processes will provide transparent information to litigants and their attorneys. Endi