Text | Gao Yuan'e, President of the People's Court of Liuhe County, Jilin Province
General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that the construction of the rule of law should not only focus on the end and treat the disease, but also focus on the front end and treat the disease before it happens. The national conditions of the mainland determine that we cannot become a "big country in litigation". In recent years, the People's Court of Liuhe County, Jilin Province, has vigorously promoted the construction of a one-stop diversified dispute resolution and litigation service system, promoted the improvement of the diversified dispute resolution mechanism, strengthened the prevention of conflicts and disputes at the source, the front-end resolution, and the control of the gates, and insisted on putting the non-litigation dispute resolution mechanism at the forefront, and reducing the increase in litigation from the source.
Adhere to inheritance and development
Deepen the work of managing the source of real complaints
In the early 60s of the 20th century, the cadres and masses of Fengqiao Town, Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province, created the "Fengqiao experience" of "mobilizing and relying on the masses, insisting on not turning in contradictions, resolving them on the spot, and achieving fewer arrests and good public order". Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made many important instructions, emphasizing that the "Fengqiao Experience" should be adhered to and developed well, and the party's mass line should be adhered to and implemented. Focusing on the goal of "no small matters out of the village, no major matters out of the town, and no conflicts handed over", the Liuhe Court implemented the working method of "pre-mediation, quick trial and quick settlement, and pre-execution settlement", and promoted grassroots social governance in an integrated and full-chain manner.
The mainland's pluralistic dispute resolution mechanism has created a distinctive and unique Chinese solution. People's mediation is at the forefront of preventing and resolving contradictions, and people's mediators have the unique advantage of maintaining close ties with the masses of the people, and are the "first line of defense" for maintaining social harmony and stability. In order to make the people's court and the people's mediation organization more smoothly connected and connected, the Liuhe Court and the County Bureau of Justice jointly established the "Liuhe County Pre-litigation People's Mediation Committee" in November 2021, which initially realized the standardization and institutionalization of mediator management, and provided guarantee for diversified dispute resolution work with organizational system and team building.
In order to further extend the docking of litigation and mediation, the Liuhe Court has continuously improved the dispute resolution mechanism of "pre-litigation mediation + judicial confirmation", and made full use of the judicial confirmation of mediation agreements to resolve conflicts and disputes, saving time and economic costs for the parties. Among the first-instance civil cases accepted by the Liuhe Court every year, the average proportion of cases concluded by judicial confirmation is more than 25%, which minimizes the burden of litigation by the masses, greatly alleviates the contradiction of a small number of cases, and releases more judicial resources to participate in grassroots social governance.
Insist on active integration
Broaden and extend judicial functions
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the most solid support for the party's work is at the grassroots level, and the most prominent contradictions and problems in economic and social development and people's livelihood are also at the grassroots level. People's courtrooms are the people's courts' "first line" for resolving conflicts and disputes and serving the people.
The Liuhe Court has three people's tribunals under its jurisdiction, and adheres to the active judicial concept of "walking in the fields and sitting on the people's kang", insisting on being at the grassroots level and serving the grassroots. The people's court of the center has set up a "women's and children's rights protection station", opened a green judicial service channel for women and children, and invited the staff of the county women's federation to participate in mediation, so as to effectively protect the lawful rights and interests of women and children. The Sanyuanpu People's Court actively carried out the litigation and mediation docking work of "judges entering the airport and escorting new developments", and mediated the conflicts and disputes that occurred in the operation of Sanyuanpu Airport in a timely manner, so as to avoid affecting the parties' itinerary due to the occurrence of disputes. The Gushanzi People's Court has set up roving trial sites in local tourist attractions, handling cases on a tour, holding court sessions on the spot, and mediating on the spot, so as to do a good job in the efficient resolution of disputes in cases such as compensation for personal injuries, and strive to increase the "justice index" in exchange for the people's "happiness index".
In its daily work, the Liuhe Court has established a mediation model of "one court, two institutes and one meeting" in which the people's court cooperates with local police stations, judicial offices, and villagers' committees, to promote the modernization of the rural governance system and governance capacity, extend the judicial tentacles to the very end of grassroots governance, and effectively strengthen the coordinated governance of the "four sources" of source visits, litigation sources, enforcement sources, and compensation sources, so as to provide strong judicial support for the high-quality development of the local economy and social harmony and stability.
The activity of "Judges Entering the Community" is an important innovative measure for the people's courts to participate in social management. Judges going out of the courtroom, researching the judicial needs of the masses, promptly intervening in case mediation, providing services that facilitate and benefit the people, and participating in comprehensive governance at the grassroots level, can strengthen the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the people, and unblock channels for communication with public opinion, and the courts may also adjust judicial work methods according to the needs of the masses, increase judicial credibility, and resolve disputes in the bud, so as to achieve the goal of effectively maintaining social stability.
Liuhe Court fully relied on the advantages of the grassroots comprehensive management grid, selected 13 judges to take the initiative to enter the community and the grid, and successfully connected with 219 administrative villages in the county, and the pre-litigation mediation work realized the transformation from the masses "going to the court for mediation" to the grid judges "going to the grid for mediation".
Insist on active justice
Innovate and diversify dispute resolution measures
In the process of adhering to and developing the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era, the Liuhe Court pays attention to promoting "good governance" at the grassroots level with the "leading" of party building, adheres to party building to lead all work, and gradually integrates into the grassroots social governance pattern of co-construction, co-governance and sharing. In 2023, the Liuhe Court will work with the local community to set up a "Party Building Alliance" contact point, set up a circuit court trial point, set up a "Harmony Mediation Room", and create a "Party Building Litigation Service Complex", where judges and mediators will provide "litigation services at the doorstep" for community residents, better serve the masses, and continuously meet the judicial needs of the people.
In order to enhance the social credibility of people's mediation, in April 2022, the Liuhe Court established the "People's Congress Mediation Studio", and invited Wang Yuying, a representative of the 13th People's Congress of Jilin Province, to be a specially invited mediator to carry out mediation work in the court. Since the establishment of the "Mediation Studio for People's Congress Deputies", a total of 359 cases have been accepted, and 323 cases have been successfully mediated, with a mediation success rate of 90%.
The post-judgment Q&A system and the pluralistic dispute resolution mechanism share the same purpose - to resolve conflicts, eliminate disputes, and serve the people. As a grassroots court within the jurisdiction of the Tonghua Intermediate People's Court, the Liuhe Court has arranged full-time judges to carry out judicial interpretation work on the basis of strictly implementing the post-judgment Q&A of the undertaking judges, taking the initiative to provide legal advice and litigation guidance, and continuously extending judicial services, so that the questions raised by the parties can be reasonably answered, and effectively enhance the people's sense of access to justice and satisfaction.
Adhering to and developing the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era is a systematic project, and it is necessary to continuously summarize the practical experience in the work on the basis of in-depth grasp of its core essence, and effectively promote the rule of law in grassroots governance. In the future, the Liuhe Court will further study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, faithfully practice the supremacy of the people, adhere to the concept of active justice, integrate the governance of litigation sources into grassroots governance, achieve efficient and substantive resolution of contradictions and disputes, and provide strong judicial support and services for the economic and social development and stability of the county.
Cover and table of contents of this issue
China Trial, Issue 5, 2024
China Trial News Semi-Monthly No. 339
Editor/Xu Chang