Lawsuits, mediations will be more efficient online, senior judge says

An online platform to help people involved in traffic disputes was put into operation on Tuesday.

The platform is being tested in 14 regions, including Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang province. After a two-year pilot, it will be extended across the country, a statement from the Supreme People's Court said.

A project of the top court, the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Justice and China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the platform "could make it easier for people to solve traffic disputes and help legal workers effectively deal with the rising number of such cases", said Du Wanhua, a senior judge of the top court.

In 2016, Chinese courts concluded 922,000 civil cases related to traffic accidents. In addition, the number of traffic disputes solved by mediation has also been rising, according to the Ministry of Justice. Between January and October, more than 556,300 such disputes were solved by mediation, it added.

"The figures for mediation and lawsuits are still rising, so we decided to set up a quick way to satisfy the increasing demand and improve judicial efficiency," Du said. "The platform also connects police officers, justice workers and courts, ensuring that our traffic data and information can be shared."

People can go to the platform and find out if they have been deemed responsible for a traffic accident by the police, and can choose mediation or a lawsuit to solve the dispute, he said.

"People won't have to keep coming to judicial authorities to provide materials again and again, and judicial officers can review materials or even open a trial via a video system on the platform," he said.

Cheng Xinwen, chief judge of the top court's No 1 Civil Tribunal, said the platform provides a unified and clear compensation standard that avoids big variations in compensation in similar traffic cases across the country.

"The platform brings convenience to people and also speeds up mediation. In this way, we can mediate more traffic disputes and make the process much easier," said Zheng Wenbiao, an official at the Ministry of Justice, which mainly handles judicial appraisals and helps with mediation.