e-magazine
Stronger Yuan Arouses Concern
Unilateral appreciation of the renminbi goes against China's sound economic growth
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Top Story
Top Story
UPDATED: February 10, 2014 NO. 7 FEBRUARY 13, 2014
Better Access to Court Rulings
Courts are now required to publish rulings on the Internet in an effort to boost judicial transparency
By Wang Hairong
Share

In Beijing, a website carrying rulings of local courts—www.bjcourt.gov.cn—was launched on December 31, 2013. In addition to judgment documents, the website also features court news, announcements, as well as information on trial processes and judgment enforcement. Information on trial processes is available only to litigants and their agents, as well as certain enforcement information. Netizens can also receive legal advice on the website.

Sun Jinbao, a lawyer with the Jinzheng Law Firm in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, believes it will prove effective in preventing judicial corruption to give the general public easy access to judgment documents.

"Our legal system has given judges discretion, and rulings can reflect their competence and performance. Publishing judgment documents online allows the public to oversee judges' work," Sun told Liaoning Legal Daily.

Privacy concerns

Since court rulings usually contain personal information on plaintiffs and defendants, publishing them online has provoked concerns over privacy.

Some litigants feel their privacy has been violated. A resident in southwest China's Chongqing using the pseudonym Li told local newspaper Chongqing Times that he felt "embarrassed and angry" when he knew a ruling on his divorce lawsuit was published online.

Li said that when a friend of his searched for Li's photographic works on the Internet, the friend got the ruling from his divorce lawsuit instead.

Reporters from Chongqing Times then searched the Internet and, as Li had said, the divorce ruling, dated September 7, 2007, was easily found. The document had been displayed for six years on a website that primarily offers legal advice before Li was aware of its online presence.

The ruling states that Li's request for divorce was rejected. In the document there are also Li and his wife's birthdays, their home address, employers, and other details such as his son's name and birthday.

Some other litigants complain that online publication of judgment documents have cost them their jobs.

In June 2011, Zhao, a man from Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei Province, who declined to give his full name, began to work at a property management company in Beijing's Changping District. He was asked to quit half a year later for no apparent reason, Zhao told Beijing-based Legal Evening News.

In early 2012, Zhao landed a job at another property management company in Beijing, but was dismissed again months later. When Zhao asked his manager for a reason, the manager suggested he conduct a search for himself online.

Zhao did so and discovered a ruling relating to a crime that he committed several years ago.

In 2006, when Zhao was 19 years old, he came to Beijing to look for work and lived in a friend's home. One night, he stole 300 yuan ($50) and two cellphones from the friend and fled. He was caught one month later, and in August that year he was sentenced to eight months in prison.

As to whether publishing court rulings involving people with criminal records is an infringement upon their privacy, there are a variety of different opinions.

A private business owner in Beijing surnamed Han said that when recruiting new employees, his company usually checks with the police to see whether a job applicant has a criminal record. He said that the company once learned that a new hire had a criminal record and sacked that person the next day.

Han believes that people who have violated the law should take the consequences. He said "You [persons with criminal records] did not care about your own reputation when committing crime, so you should bear the negative effects of your actions."

In Han's opinion, publishing a criminal's judgment document online will deter him or her from making the same mistakes again, and remind others to be on their guard against him or her.

Nonetheless, Zhang Ping, a member of the China Law Society and professor at the Beijing-based People's Public Security University of China, does not agree with Han.

Zhang said that if a person has committed a crime and been punished, his criminal record is a matter of personal privacy; they can choose not to disclose it to others unless they are inquired about it by government departments.

"In fact, the SPC has realized that publishing court rulings may compromise some involved people's privacy, so it has required courts at various levels to take measures to protect against this," Zhang said.

According to the SPC's new regulation, information not suitable for disclosure should be deleted from judgment documents before they are published online. Such information includes natural persons' personal information such as home address, contact information, ID number, bank accounts, as well as business secrets and other details that could have a negative effect on an individual if made public.

Although the SPC's regulation requires that litigants' real names should be kept on published court rulings, it also states that symbols can be used to replace names of litigants and their legal representatives involved in family dispute cases. Names of victims and their legal representatives, witnesses and appraisers involved in criminal cases, as well as names of defendants who have been sentenced to prison terms under three years and who are not recidivists, may also be replaced.

Zhang said that if a person finds his or her privacy was compromised because of the publication of court rulings online, he or she has the right to demand courts or commercial websites to rectify the situation. He also suggested courts and commercial websites use the proper technology to obscure private information in published court rulings so as to protect the privacy of concerned individuals.

Email us at: wanghairong@bjreview.com

   Previous   1   2  



 
Top Story
-Questionable Tribute
-Special Report: China Responds to Abe's Shrine Visit
-Making the Yuan More Flexible
-The Renminbi As Game Changer
-Asset Disclosures
Most Popular
在线翻译
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved