Recently, the Supreme People's Court ("SPC") has issued the Opinions on Perfecting the Working Mechanism of Unifying Standards for Application of Laws (the "Opinions").
The Opinions encompass ten major tasks including strengthening judicial interpretations and case guidance, involving 21 specific measures such as perfecting the mechanism for resolving the differences in application of laws, giving full play to the role of the judicial committee in unifying the standards for application of laws, and strengthening the supervision and administration of "four types of cases". Among others, the Opinions clearly state that the judicial interpretations involving the vital interests of the masses or major and difficult issues shall be open to the public for comments. Meanwhile, in response to the legal issues of typical significance and those having greater impact in economic and social activities, or hot issues of widespread concern among the masses, the SPC should promptly release typical cases to standardize judicial adjudication activities. In addition, the Opinions also point out to focus on unifying the standards for application of laws in trial management. In case any circumstance deviates from the laws, judicial interpretations and judicial rules established in guiding cases, the judges in charge shall explain the reasons to the case review committee.