China to get in on ADR

This week, the Supreme People's Court of China said local courts nationwide should find innovative alternatives to litigation in resolving disputes. An official statement urged 50 local courts to better meet people's legal requirements and take a judicial role. Reportedly, the move is in line with the Communist Party of China Central Committee's decision on comprehensively advancing the rule of law, which was released last fall, in order to "perfect pluralized dispute resolution mechanisms that organically link and mutually coordinate mediation, arbitration, administrative rulings, administrative redress, litigation, etc." The 50 courts were directed to innovate in dispute resolution work and lead the way in the reform. The Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial organ in China and is responsible for independently exercising the highest judicial right according to the law and without any interruption by administrative organs, social organizations or individuals. Interestingly, the high court in China is charged with three wide-ranging responsibilities: 1) trying cases that have the greatest influence in China, hearing appeals against the legal decisions of higher courts, and trying cases The Supreme People's Court claims within its original jurisdiction; 2) supervising the work of local courts and special courts at every level, overruling wrong judgements they might have made, and reviewing cases tried by the lower courts; and 3) giving judicial explanations of the specific utilization of laws in the judicial process that must be carried out nationwide. See story here-- http://english.eastday.com/auto/eastday/nation/u1ai8473294.html and the English version of The Supreme People's Court's website: http://en.chinacourt.org