On April 1, 2015, the 11th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensive Deepening Reforms reviewed and approved the "Opinions on Promoting the Reform of the Case Registration System in People's Courts." The Supreme People's Court issued these opinions on the 15th, reforming the case acceptance system of people's courts by changing the case review system to a case registration system, ensuring that all cases that should be accepted according to law are registered and all complaints are handled, protecting the litigation rights of parties. The opinions will take effect on May 1.

[1] The opinion states that the correct political direction must be upheld, judicial service for the people and fair justice must be adhered to, based on the Constitution and laws, ensuring that parties exercise their litigation rights in accordance with the law and facilitating their access to litigation. For cases that meet the legal conditions, the people's courts must accept them according to law, and no unit or individual may obstruct the court from accepting cases under any pretext.

[2] The opinion stipulates that registration and case-filing applies to initial cases in the people's courts, and does not apply to appeals, applications for retrial, or petitions.

[3] The people's courts shall accept all complaints for civil lawsuits, administrative lawsuits, criminal private prosecutions, enforcement applications, and state compensation applications that meet legal conditions, registering and filing them on the spot. If a decision cannot be made on the spot, it shall be determined whether to file the case within the legally prescribed period. If a decision cannot be made within the legally prescribed period, the case shall be filed first. If the formal requirements are not met, the people's court shall promptly explain and provide a one-time comprehensive written notice of the materials to be supplemented and the deadline. If the legal conditions are not met, a ruling shall be made according to law. If the parties are dissatisfied, they may appeal or apply for reconsideration.

[4] Cases involving illegal lawsuits or those that do not meet the statutory conditions for filing, those concerning harm to national sovereignty and territorial integrity, national security, undermining national unity and ethnic solidarity, violating national religious policies, or other matters not under the jurisdiction of the people's courts, shall not be registered and filed.

[5] The opinion also proposes improving supporting mechanisms, further integrating mediation, arbitration, administrative adjudication, administrative reconsideration, and litigation, and enhancing diversified dispute resolution mechanisms to handle more disputes through non-litigation methods. It calls for exploring the establishment of pre-trial preparation procedures in judicial litigation, improving mechanisms for case triage and pre-trial mediation, promoting the rapid resolution of various disputes, saving judicial costs, and reducing the litigation burden on parties.

[6] The opinion emphasizes that courts must consciously accept supervision from the People's Congress, procuratorial organs, news media, and the public, and promptly respond to reported issues and complaints. For illegal acts such as failing to file cases, delaying case filing, artificially controlling case filing, "not filing cases at year-end," or interfering with lawful case filing, serious accountability shall be pursued according to law and discipline against the responsible personnel and supervising leaders. If serious consequences or adverse social impacts result, constituting a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued according to law.

The reform of the case-filing registration system is an important measure proposed at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Promoting this reform helps to fundamentally and systematically address the issue of "difficulty in filing cases" that has been strongly voiced by the people, and is of great significance for accelerating the construction of a fair, efficient, and authoritative socialist judicial system.

(Xinhua News Agency)