Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Issuance of Judgments on the Internet by the People's Courts

· Document Number：Interpretation No. 26 [2013]

· Area of Law： Legislative Affairs Post and Telecommunications

· Level of Authority： Judicial Interpretation

· Date issued：11-21-2013

· Effective Date：01-01-2014

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Supreme People's Court

Announcement of the Supreme People's Court
The Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Issuance of Judgments on the Internet by the People's Courts, as adopted at the 1,595th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on November 13, 2013, are hereby issued and shall come into force on January 1, 2014.
Supreme People's Court
November 21, 2013
Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Issuance of Judgments on the Internet by the People's Courts
(Interpretation No. 26 [2013], adopted at the 1,595th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on November 13, 2013)
In order to implement the principle of open trial, regulate the issuance of judgments on the Internet by the people's courts, promote judicial justice and enhance judicial credibility, these provisions are formulated in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant provisions and in consideration of the actual circumstances of the people's courts.
Article 1 The people's courts shall issue judgments on the Internet under the principles of legality, timeliness, standardization and truthfulness.
Article 2 The Supreme People's Court will set up a website for Judicial Opinions of China on the Internet, and uniformly issue the effective judgments of the people's courts at all levels.
The people's courts at all levels shall be responsible for the quality of judgments issued on the Internet.
Article 3 The people's courts at all levels shall specially designate an institution to be responsible for the management of judgments released on the Internet. The institution shall perform the following duties:
(1) It shall organize and upload judgments;
(2) If it finds that a judgment issued on the Internet has any clerical error or is handled improperly in technical issues, it shall coordinate relevant departments for timely handling; and
(3) Other relevant guidance, supervision and evaluation.
Article 4 An effective judicial document of a people's court should be issued on the Internet, except under any of the following circumstances:
(1) It involves any state secret or individual privacy;
(2) It involves any juvenile delinquency;
(3) The case is closed by mediation; or
(4) Any other circumstance under which it is inappropriate to issue the judgment on the Internet.
Article 5 A people's court shall, in a notice of case acceptance or a notice of response to an action, notify the parties of the scope of judgments on the Internet, and by various means such as government websites, electronic touch screens and litigation handbooks, inform the public of the relevant provisions of the people's courts on the issuance of judgments on the Internet.
Article 6 When issuing judgments on the Internet, a people's courts shall retain the parties' names and other true information, but the names of the following parties and participants in the proceedings must remain anonymous in the form of alternative symbols:
(1) The parties and their legal representatives in the cases of marriage and family or inheritance disputes;
(2) Victims and their legal representatives, witnesses, and identification or evaluation experts in criminal cases; and
(3) A defendant who is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of three years or is exempted from criminal punishment, and is not a recidivist or habitual offender.
Article 7 When issuing a judgment on the Internet, a people's court shall delete the following information:
(1) A natural person's home address, contact information, identity card number, bank account number, health status and other personal information;
(2) A minor's relevant information;
(3) The bank account number of a legal person or any other organization;
(4) Trade secrets; and
(5) Any other content which is inappropriate to be disclosed.
Article 8 A judge accepting cases or a person designated by the people's court shall, within seven days after the entry into force of a judgment, finish technical treatment in accordance with the requirements of Articles 6 and 7 of these Provisions, and submit the judgment to the special institution of his own court, which is responsible for the issuance of judgments on the Internet, for issuing the judgment on the website for Judicial Opinions of China.
Article 9 Where a sole judge or a collegial bench considers that a judgment falls under the circumstance as specified in Article 4, Item (4) of these Provisions so that it is inappropriate to be issued on the Internet, the sole judge or collegial bench shall put forward written opinions and reasons, and submit them to the vice president in charge of the court for approval upon review of the person-in-charge of the department.
Article 10 A judgment issued on the Internet shall be consistent with the judgment served on the parties, except that it is subject to technical treatment in accordance with the requirements of these Provisions.
Where a people's court supplements or corrects the judgment served on the parties, the people's court shall issue the supplementation or correction ruling on the Internet in a timely manner.
Article 11 A judgment issued on the Internet by a people's court may not be modified or replaced, except that it is inconsistent with the judgment served on the parties due to network transmission failures; where a withdrawal is indeed necessary for this judgment due to legal reasons or other special reasons, such withdrawal shall be decided upon review by the special institution of a people's court at or above the level of a higher people's court, which is responsible for the issuance of judgments on the Internet, and the procedures for withdrawal, registration and recordation shall be handled on the website for Judicial Opinions of China.
Article 12 A convenient retrieval and inquiry system shall be available on the website for Judicial Opions of China, so as to facilitate the search and inquiry of judgments by the public.
Article 13 The Supreme People shall be responsible for supervising and guiding the issuance of judgments on the Internet by local people's courts at all levels.
Higher people's courts shall be responsible for organizing, directing, supervising and checking the issuance of judgments on the Internet by local people's courts at all levels within their jurisdictions.
Article 14 All higher people's court may, in the course of implementation of these Provisions, formulate the detailed rules for implementation in consideration of the actual work. The schedule of issuance of judgments on the Internet by basic people's courts in central and western regions shall be decided by the Supreme People's Court and reported to Supreme People's Court for recordation.
Article 15 These Provisions shall come into force on January 1, 2014. The Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Issuance of Judgments on the Internet by the People's Courts (No. 48 [2010] of the Supreme People's Court) as formulated by the Supreme People's Court on November 8, 2010 shall be repealed concurrently. Where these Provisions are inconsistent with the judicial interpretations previously issued by this Court, these Provisions shall prevail.