On 8 Mar. 2022, the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of China’s 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) was held at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing. Justice Zhou Qiang (周強), President of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC), delivered a report on the work of the Chinese courts in 2021 (hereinafter the “Work Report”) to the NPC.
According to the Work Report,
- The SPC accepted 33,602 cases, formulated 24 judicial interpretations, and issued 31 guiding cases;
- Local people’s courts at various levels and specialized courts accepted 33.516 million cases, and the amount in controversy of the cases concluded was CNY 8.3 trillion; and
- Judges concluded 238 cases per capita, and litigants in 98% of second-instance cases
- accepted judgments.
Chinese courts concluded 4,098 criminal cases on infringement of citizens’ personal information, up 60.2% year on year.
In criminal cases, Chinese courts acquitted 511 defendants in public prosecution cases and 383 defendants in private prosecution cases.
As to intellectual property cases, the SPC issued the judicial interpretation of intellectual
property punitive damages, before which Chinese courts did not accept punitive damages. According to the interpretation, Chinese courts have imposed punitive damages on infringers in 895 cases.
In cross-border civil and commercial litigation cases, Chinese courts concluded 21,000 foreign-related civil and commercial cases and 14,000 maritime cases of first instance.
In cases of protection of minors and women, Chinese courts have issued 3,356 protection orders. In addition, including the juvenile court established by the SPC, 2,181 juvenile courts have been set up by courts at all levels nationwide.
In building digital courts, 11.439 million cases were filed online and 1.275 million sessions were held online by courts at all levels nationwide. And 1.71 billion documents have been stored on the judicial blockchain.
Cover Photo by Kunal Kalra on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
