A detailed account of what China's Internet Courts do has been published online to help interested citizens understand how they can seek help if they have problems with domains, online shopping, and other issues.
China Daily released a visual explaining why China's Internet Courts were established. In the visual, it was revealed that the courts were founded to help the government handle online disputes that have been rampant since e-commerce grew in the country.
According to the outlet, Internet Courts aren't virtual. These courts are real, just like courts that handle criminal law. However, these courts were created for the sole purpose of dealing with internet-related disputes that could not be handled by traditional legislation.
China's Internet Courts were approved by the government's Central Committee for Deepening Overall Reform on June 26, 2017. Around two months later, on August 18, the first Internet Court was built in Hangzhou.
Just last year, two Internet Courts were established, the Beijing branch, on September 9, and the Guangzhou office on September 28.
While more serious problems will be forwarded to Beijing's traditional judicial office, China's Internet Courts will preside over disputes related to personal and property rights infringement online, Internet shopping, copyright issues, online financial loan contracts, and seven other cases that have yet to be discussed in detail.
The best part about these new courts is convenience. Every early process such as registration and filing can be done online. Presentation of evidence as well as decisions from the courts will be delivered online. There is a fair chance complainants won't be called to appear in a physical court.
China's technology-enabled Internet Courts allow for smartphone notifications, the online review of documents, and 24/7 service for people involved in the case.
Case filing and acceptance can be completed in just 5 minutes while the average time a court hearing takes is 28 minutes. It was estimated that it would take around 20 days on average for a case to be filed before it is concluded.
When China's second Internet Court was opened in Beijing late last year, Vice President of the Beijing Higher People's Court, An Fengde, said that Internet-related cases have been increasing at a fast rate.
Beijing's courts tried 37,631 cases related to online use, thus the decision to put up Internet Courts that would help Chinese legislators to deal with the issues in a more convenient and faster way.
"We strive to make it easier for people to file a suit, boost trial efficiency while maintaining impartiality and system safety," Zhang said, as reported by Xinhua.
China is home to 802 million online users. 71 percent of these consumers are online shoppers, spurring online activity that at times results to disputes between sellers, shippers, buyers, and domain owners.
