Chinese courts handle over 56m cases in 5 years

BEIJING - China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) and local courts at various levels handled more than 50,000 cases and 56 million cases over the last five years, respectively, up 174 percent and 29.3 percent compared to the previous five-year period, the SPC said Monday.

The courts at all levels completed 4.14 million criminal cases over the last five years, including a number of major cases that seriously harmed security and public safety, the SPC said in a statement.

The courts also handled multiple cases concerning food and drug safety, it said.

The SPC also sought judicial openness and the completion of judicial practices during the period. It established a court audit system, convened a total of 57 press conferences and listened to public comments and suggestions.

The SPC also instructed courts at all levels to improve the people's juror system. The number of people's jurors increased from 57,000 to 85,000 over the last five years, taking part in over 3.68 million cases.

The SPC has also looked inward to fight corruption, with its former vice president Huang Songyou removed from office in October 2008 due to serious violations of laws and discipline.

The SPC said it has published a series of systems and regulations to fight corruption. With guidance from the SPC, purity and honesty have become major parts of China's court system, the SPC added.