Heads of high courts meet in Beijing

China's top court held a national conference bringing together the heads of high courts from around the country on January 14 in Beijing.

A national meeting for presidents of high courts is held on January 14 in Beijing. [Photo by Sun Ruofeng/People's Court Daily]

Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), addressed the conference, calling for achieving the goal of "letting people experience justice and fairness in every judicial case."

Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court, addresses the national conference. [Photo by Sun Ruofeng/People's Court Daily]

Zhou said courts of various levels in China have achieved fruitful results over the past year, receiving and hearing around 23.06 million cases, a year-on-year increase of 18.1 percent.

Nearly 20 million cases were closed in 2016, an increase of 18.3 percent compared with the same period the year before, according to Zhou.

He added that judicial openness and the construction of "Smart Courts" progressed in 2016, and that the legal talent pool is increasing in quality and size.

2017 is a decisive year for the comprehensive deepening of reform in China's judicial system, said Zhou, adding that the growing number of legal cases and higher demand from the public pose new challenges to courts of various levels in China.

The overall concept of national security should be firmly implemented, noted Zhou. Criminals must be punished in accordance with the law to protect human rights and safeguard social stability.

Legal reform should also cater to the "New Normal" in economic development and contribute to its sound and steady growth, said Zhou.

Zombie enterprises should be dealt with in accordance with the law to better serve supply-side structural reform, according to Zhou.

Courts in China should implement national key strategies, contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated development plan, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the building of "Beautiful China”, insisted Zhou.

Zhou said that people's rights and interests in litigation should be protected so that they feel a "sense of gain" in judicial reform.

Court information construction should be deepened and trial systems and capabilities should also be modernized.

An awards ceremony for excellent courts and judges was held at the conference.