Lawsuits soar after Chinese courts ease filing procedure

BEIJING -- The number of lawsuits filed in the past month across China increased by 29 percent from a year ago after courts adopted measures to ease filing procedures on May 1.

On May 1, Chinese courts changed their filing procedure from accreditation to registration, which greatly lowered the barriers for filing a case.

Unlike the previous practice of examining cases before they are filed, cases will now be accepted by courts immediately as long as they meet basic requirements.

Between May 1 and Thursday, about 1.13 million cases were filed across the country, said the Supreme People's Court (SPC) Thursday in a statement.

The number of administrative cases increased the most, by 221 percent, and private prosecution of criminal cases increased by 149 percent. The number of civil cases was up 27.8 percent.

The filing procedure reform has fulfilled its purpose, said the SPC statement.

The SPC also noted that the increase in lawsuits will challenge the efficiency of the court system since it is already understaffed.

The SPC pledged to tackle the manpower problem and further streamline the filing procedure to better serve the people.