The Supreme People's Court ("SPC") has recently issued the Provisions on the Publication of Information on the Trial Process on the Internet by People's Courts (the "Provisions"), effective from September 1, 2018.
The Provisions, comprising 17 articles, provide for the rules on collecting and checking the identity of parties engaged in lawsuits and on publication rules under special circumstances, the scope of information on the trial process published on the internet, the rules on the electronic service of documents through the platform designed for the publication of information on the trial process and the effectiveness of service of documents, and the rules for changing and withdrawing the information on the trial process already published. According to the Provisions, except for the circumstance where State secrets are involved or applicable laws or judicial interpretations stipulate that the information about the trial process shall be kept confidential or subject to limited access, four types of information on the trial process, including the "procedural information generated when people's courts hear criminal, civil and administrative cases and cases involving national compensation", "information on process under which matters involved in actions will be handled", "litigation documents" and "written records", shall be made accessible online to the parties participating in lawsuits and their statutory agents, agents ad litem and defenders.