On 13 July, the Supreme People’s Court issued its first annual report, which outlines the work undertaken by the courts in 2009, and the results achieved. Major items covered include the priority task of handling cases in accordance with the law; instituting rational work policies; strengthening the basic-level courts; putting in place high quality court personnel; acting against corruption; and advancing the reform of the legal system.
The section dealing with handling cases according to the law introduces the cases heard by the courts, and comprises the main content of the report. According to this section, in 2009 the People’s Courts heard over 10 million cases, which is almost 20 times the number heard in 1978 and represents an annual increase of almost 6% since 2005. In particular, the section outlines the measures taken by the Supreme People’s Court in the face of the international financial crisis, which included issuing judicial explanations relating to the PRC Contract Law and the PRC Insurance Law; promptly issuing documents relating to enterprise insolvency, company dissolution, real estate and labour dispute cases; and issuing guidance to the various levels of local courts on how they should respond to the financial crisis. This section also publishes figures on the number of cases heard relating to economic development, people’s livelihoods, real estate and intellectual property, and detail of whether such cases have increased or decreased in number, and of the total amount claimed in the lawsuits.
According to Sun Jungong, a media spokesperson of the Supreme People’s Court, the court voluntarily published the annual report in order to invite public scrutiny. It is understood that the court plans to issue such reports annually.
