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China’s new legal database has raised concerns among legal experts that the data may be less transparent amid widespread government crackdowns on information access under President Xi Jinping. .
China’s Supreme People’s Court on Monday launched the National Court Judgment Database, a record of legal judgments that the government says will be “open to experts and scholars.” [and] lawyer”.
However, the country’s Supreme Court has not made clear how much of the database’s case records will be made available to the public, with local company Caixin reporting that it will be an internal system for court staff.
The introduction also raises concerns about the future of the existing archive, China Judgments Online. Since 2013, China Judgments Online has become an important information source for domestic and international lawyers, analysts, and companies. But its records show that the number of documents released has declined sharply in recent years.
Since Mr. Xi’s unprecedented third term began in late 2022, Chinese authorities have increasingly restricted public access to information on everything from economic indicators to regulatory decision-making and foreign policy making. This creates additional challenges for investors, analysts, and businesses in assessing the country’s direction. Escape from pandemic isolation.
Authorities have passed anti-espionage and data security laws to tighten cross-border control of sensitive trade and economic information, and companies have struggled to comply. In June, China also stopped reporting its youth unemployment rate, which had reached record levels, amid a slow economic recovery from the pandemic.
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Chinese authorities have in the past hailed China Judgments Online as the world’s largest archive of its kind, with more than 140 million records. But newly released court documents fell to their lowest level in a decade last year, with just 10 million documents added.
Only 30% of judgments involving criminal, civil and administrative cases, as well as government compensation and enforcement actions, were made public in 2022, compared to more than 70% a few years ago.
The decline in activity on China Judgments Online and limited reassurance about the new judicial database and its capabilities has raised concerns among lawyers and legal analysts.
“This should be seen as a major reform, a major change, but the basis for reform is a black box,” said a Chinese law expert who requested anonymity.
“Practical lawyers use [the existing database] “There are so many reasons, including deciding which court to litigate in and assessing the likelihood of success of a particular legal argument,” the person added.
A state media circular about the new database leaked in December sparked widespread social media scrutiny. State broadcaster CCTV last month published a Q&A with anonymous officials aimed at addressing transparency concerns, but the Supreme People’s Court in July 2021 ruled against China citing security concerns. It said it had introduced “targeted remedial measures” online, resulting in a reduction in the amount of content available. document.
International companies also rely heavily on China Judgments Online to conduct due diligence in China as part of their business operations and new investment decisions.
“I don’t know if they’re going to leave the current information out there for free. It doesn’t seem consistent with what they’re doing,” said one due diligence official, also anonymous. “There appears to be a real shift toward less openness in the justice system.”
China’s Supreme People’s Court did not respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Cheng Leng in Hong Kong and Wenjie Ding in Beijing