Since the founding of New China in 1949, the country's legal experts have been refining the judicial system. Cao Yin reports.

Editor's note: To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, we will publish a series of stories reflecting changes and developments in fields such as law, education, transportation and the environment. This is the first in the series.

When Wei Jiuchuan started his career at a Beijing court in the late 1980s, he rode a bicycle to visit litigants' homes and evaluate assets in property-related disputes. He also had to rely on his own judgment in many of the cases as there were few written rules he could use as points of reference.

Now, though, judges at Haidian District People's Court can search for and freeze litigants' assets, such as bank savings and property, via an online platform, while the number of laws that can be used as a basis for verdicts has reached 274.

The progress in judicial efficiency and legislation is the result of China's efforts to impose the rule of law that started when the country initiated the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, according to Wei, 63, a retired judge at the court.

"Compared with judicial work in the 1950s - the primary stage of the founding of New China and the era in which I was born - the changes to the rule of law can be said to be huge," he said.

Feng Yujun, a professor of law at Renmin University of China, highlighted the importance of the rule of law in a nation's governance and political civilization. In his opinion, China's construction of the rule of law can be divided into three periods: infancy (1949 to 1977); rapid development (1978 to 2011); and improvement (2012 to the present day).

Yang Weidong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that in the early days the foundation of the rule of law was the Chinese Constitution, adopted in 1954. "Legislation and judicial affairs have been significantly promoted with the deepening of reform and opening-up," he added.

According to Feng, after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in late 2012, the rule of law was further improved and began to play a larger role in a wider range of fields, including the economy and social governance.

Wei said: "People's legal awareness has also improved since then. Litigants know that the law will protect their legitimate rights and they believe problems can be better solved by the courts."

Although Wei no longer needs to tackle the rising number of disputes seen in recent years, he still pays attention to judicial changes. For example, he is following the legislative process of the country's first civil code, which will be submitted to the National People's Congress, the top legislature, for review next year.

"If the code can be passed, another milestone in the rule of law will have been laid," he said.

Constitution

In 1954, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China was adopted by the NPC during its first plenary session.

Moreover, laws and rules in a number of major spheres, such as those related to marriage and how the courts and prosecuting authorities should function, were also drafted in the early years after the founding of New China, according to Feng.

However, those legislative moves were suspended during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), he said.

Wei, the retired judge, said: "When I was a child, I knew there was a court near my home, but I didn't know what it was, let alone what laws our country had made and what the rule of law was. In most people's minds, 'court' equaled 'mystery'."

Rapid development

In 1977, Wang Liming, executive vice-president of Renmin University of China, enrolled at a law school in Hubei province. He described the environment for legal studies at the time as a "barren land".

"There were few books related to civil law. I just learned some rules about how to allocate compensation in broken marriages," he recalled.

A year later, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee was held in Beijing. Because the reform and opening-up policy was raised during the meeting, a guideline to the construction of the rule of law - there must be laws to work by, they must be observed and strictly enforced, and lawbreakers must be prosecuted - was opened for public comment.

Since then, China has pushed the rapid development of the rule of law.

For example, the general principles of the Civil Law as a milestone in helping to resolve civil cases were adopted in April 1986. "Although it was not a civil code, it offered basic resolutions and a legal framework on how to hear civil disputes," Wang said.

In addition, the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law were drafted and unveiled in that period.

In 1987, Wei finished his military service and began working at the court in Haidian. "There were very few law school graduates, so we had to deal with cases while also digesting new laws," he said.

In the early 1990s, Wei handled about seven civil cases a month, mostly related to divorce or property inheritance. "After initiating a lawsuit, litigants had to visit the court repeatedly to submit materials, attend case hearings and get the verdict," he recalled.

"We began upholding the authority of the law, but our efficiency could not match the boom in disputes."

Internet era

Judicial work has changed since the internet era arrived in the late 1990s. "Now, all the legal procedures, including case filings and hearings and verdict delivery, can be done online," Wei said, adding that technology is helping judges to reduce the burden caused by the surge in disputes.

Statistics from the Supreme People's Court, the country's top legal chamber, show that the courts heard 9.02 million civil cases last year, and the categories of disputes were extended to include new fields, such as online loans and online copyright.

Meanwhile, since 2013, all courts have been obliged to post their rulings online to improve the quality of verdicts.

According to Feng, the changes and moves came after law-based governance was highlighted by the central leadership at the 18th CPC National Congress, which resulted in the status of the rule of law rising further.

For instance, from 2013 to 2017, the nation's courts found 4,032 defendants not guilty, and also prevented the abuse of power and corruption by adopting the Supervision Law in 2018.

Yang, from the Chinese Academy of Governance, said a report delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress in October 2017 provided a glimpse of the future of the rule of law.

"It said advancing law-based governance in all fields is a profound revolution in China's governance. We must promote the rule of law, and work to ensure sound lawmaking, strict law enforcement, impartial administration of justice and observance of the law by everybody," he said.

Wei said the main requirement is to ensure that people from all walks of life fully respect the law, and to enhance legal awareness. If that can be done, the goal of building a country, government and society based on the rule of law will be achieved as soon as possible.