Round-the-clock services

After Liu joined the Beijing Internet Court, located in a hi-tech zone in the capital's Fengtai district, she found she was able to devote more time to concentrating on the law and legal issues instead of administrative details as before.

"Several procedures that took a lot of time in lawsuits, such as evidence exchange, are now conducted online, which leaves me more time to analyze disputes and explain rulings to litigants," she said.

Statistics provided by the court show that 3,040 cases were filed between Sept 9, the day it opened, and Dec 31. All the cases were filed via the internet, and 99 percent of them were heard online.

Litigants who wish to bring a case before the court must first set up an online account by using their national identity cards and a facial-recognition system. Provided the litigant's biometric features and the information on their ID card match those registered with the capital's public security bureau, they are allowed to submit their contact details, evidence and other materials related to the case.

"After that, judicial assistants or court clerks send text messages to the litigant's mobile phone advising them of the date and time of the hearing," Liu said. "Before, we informed people by sending written legal notices by post, which took longer. Sometimes the notices were delayed or even lost."

She added that an offline hearing will be arranged if a judge has reason to doubt a litigant's identity.

Litigants are asked to download an app from the court's website to their laptop or mobile phone for use during hearings.

"To ensure the safety and stability of the app or network they will use to follow their hearing, we help them test it the day before the trial," Liu said.

"That means litigants don't have to attend court in person. Instead, they can take part in the hearing, follow the progress of their lawsuit and read court rulings at just about any place they can connect to the internet. If they have problems with litigation or the process, they can contact us online. The Supreme Court's judicial notice stipulates that we must provide timely responses."

On Oct 30, Yang Heping, a lawyer in Beijing, acted in a hearing on behalf of Douyin, a popular online short-video provider, via his laptop while sitting in the company's offices.

Douyin claimed that another online platform had downloaded and broadcast one of its videos without permission, thereby infringing its copyright.

Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant attended the court during the trial. Instead, they used the online platform of the internet court to take part in the hearing and exchange their views and evidence.

"I didn't need to go to the court, irrespective of when the case was filed or heard," Yang said. "Online litigation is very convenient because there are no space or time constraints."

About 10 people file cases in the court every day, and almost every case is heard and ruled upon online.

"That means we can offer legal services without opening or closing times," Liu said, noting that litigants can send judges messages at anytime of the day or night, or even when they are on vacation.