JUSTICE: Han Lei (right front) stands trial at the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court on September 25 for killing a baby girl during a parking dispute. The court provided live updates of the proceedings on its microblog (GONG LEI)

The Jinan Intermediate People's Court quelled the public thirst for knowledge during the trial of formerly high-ranking official Bo Xilai with a new and innovative form of press release: live microblog updates. Bo, who had been charged with bribery, embezzlement and abusing power, was sentenced to life in prison on September 22.

"The judge has announced the beginning of the trial, and defendant Bo Xilai is to appear in court," read a message posted on the court's micro-blog at 8:46 a.m. on August 22. The same day saw 110 attendants in the courtroom, including 19 reporters and Bo's relatives.

The Jinan Intermediate People's Court opened an account on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging service, on August 18, just in time for live updates of Bo's trial. The micro-blog gave everyone the opportunity to read the details of Bo's defense and other proceedings in real time. The court's micro-blog attracted more than 300,000 followers on the first day of the trial.

Sun Jungong, a spokesman for the Supreme People's Court, China's highest judicial body, said that live updates of the trial via micro-blog provided an effective way of promoting judicial openness and ensuring fairness.

"Courts should not only open up their trial procedures and rulings to the public, but also make public the evidence and reasoning used in the court," Sun noted. He added that cases that garner public interest should be broadcasted live or alternatively recorded and then broadcasted.

More and more courts in China are starting to use microblogs to improve the transparency of proceedings.

On June 28, Zhou Qiang, President of the Supreme People's Court, stressed that all courts ought to consider prioritizing the use of websites and microblogs.

Official statistics show that at the end of 2012, 619 courts across the country were using micro-blog accounts. The Beijing News finds that 17 provincial level courts have provided live updates of trials through their microblogs, and that some have done it since as early as 2010, known as the first year of the development of Chinese microblogging service.

New tool

Recently, hearings of a number of high-profile cases were live microblogged.

On September 16, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court brought to trial and provided live updates of a case in which Han Lei, a Beijing resident, had slammed a two-year-old girl to the ground during a parking dispute in the city's Daxing District. The girl later died and Han's actions raised widespread public concern over the safety of children in public places.

At 9:35 a.m. on the day of the trial, shortly after the defendant was brought into the courtroom, the court posted its first micro-blog. From that point on until the trial's closure, 11 posts detailing court proceedings were published, totaling approximately 500 words and five pictures.

On September 18, the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court in east China's Jiangsu Province dealt with the case of a drug-addicted mother who left her two daughters at home by themselves for weeks, a situation that led to their death from starvation. This trial was also opened up to the public through the court's micro-blog posts.