Beijing courts introduce new platform making information easier to access

Beijing residents can print judicial documents and verdicts made by courts through a self-service platform.

Beijing High People's Court said on Sunday that it has provided 100 self-service platforms similar to an ATM. The self-service platforms will be installed in 63 courtrooms of 23 courts across the capital to provide a convenience experience for litigants.

According to the High People's Court, litigants can trace their lawsuits, hand in judicial materials and leave messages for judges by the platform, instead of going to a court that handles their specific case.

For example, if a litigant in living in Xicheng district and has a pending case in a Chaoyang district court, he or she will not have to go to the Chaoyang court to search information about the case. Instead, he or she can follow it through a self-service platform in a Xicheng court.

Litigants can access this information by simply swiping their identity cards in the automated machines. Until now, 9,731 residents have used it to deal with their cases, the Beijing High People's Court said via a statement.

This new technology also helps litigants find accurate addresses about every court in Beijing and can seek information on judges.

Meng Xiang, deputy president of the high people's court, said that the new platform's main purpose is to search cases over administrative regions of Beijing.

"The platform allows litigants to interact with judges by video or audio. We have built up a real ‘bridge' between courts and residents," Meng said.

"What we want is to reduce burden on litigants by cutting down the time spent traveling to and from courts outside of the residential regions."