Shaanxi Province Long County Court Tries Innovative Judicial Model

• Author: Zhang Shouzeng

Three days after he assumed office in September 2007, Shaanxi Province Long County Court President Feng Hua reported to the Secretary of CCP County Committee and asked about the expectations for the work of the court. The Secretary said, "As long as the court creates no chaos." The famous lawsuit movie, The Story of Qiu Ju, drew materials from this county. According to the county’s ancient historical record, "people from Long County like to sue."

Regularly, judges "sit in the courthouse and learn about cases" and "whoever makes the claim who take the burden of proof." As a result, judges usually do not travel outside the court to investigate the truth. The lawsuits are settled faster, but the number of petitions increases.

The court’s Party Leadership Group decided to change the judges’ method of listening and judging inside the courtroom and encourages the judges to go to the scene and investigate the truth. The breakthrough is to solve petitions concerning court’s judgments and orders and non-enforcement judgments and orders.

One specific measure is to establish an office of legal affairs in each village or have one shared among several villages in the countryside or districts of city areas, depending on the number of local lawsuits. For each village with over 30 lawsuits per year, a judge is appointed to reside there; for other villages with fewer lawsuits, a judge is shared among 4- 6 villages. Each office of legal affairs consists of a judge, a trial participant, generally the village party secretary, and a mediator, generally the village head. Cases are reported...