China's supreme court launches case-tracking website

BEIJING - The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Thursday officially launched a website for parties to track the progress of their court cases in an effort to boost judicial transparency.

Using their ID numbers, involved parties and lawyers can check the status of a case handled by the SPC or local courts in 20 provincial-level regions, including Beijing, as well as electronic documents and in-court video recordings at www.court.gov.cn/zgsplcxxgkw, according to an SPC statement.

The general public has access to basic information on courts and their court officials, as well as manuals on litigation and judicial procedures.

"All case information fit for the public is available at the site, while some is unfit for online disclosure due to its special nature and may only be obtained via strict official procedures," the statement said, citing information related to review of death penalty cases as an example.

The site started trial operations on Aug. 1 and has clocked more than 730,000 visits as of Oct. 31.

According to the statement, the SPC is working to have cases managed by all courts nationwide available on the site in the future.