Behind Closed screens the controversy surrounding China's legal data overhaul legal experts are expressing concerns about diminishing data transparency due to a new Chinese legal database which coincides with a broader government Crackdown on information access under President Xi Jinping the national Court judgment's database was inaugurated by China's Supreme People's Court on Monday this dat base has a comprehensive collection of judicial judgments that the government has declared accessible t
o Specialists Scholars and attorneys however the highest court in the country has not provided any guidance on the kind of accessibility the public will have to the databases case filings kaien a local business publication has reported that it will be an internal system only for court staff the adoption of this has also sparked concerns regarding the viability of an already existing archive China judgments online China judgments online has served as a Vital Information resource for both domestic
and international lawyers analysts and Enterprises since 2013 however according to its records the organization has experienced a significant decrease in the quantity of documents it has published in recent years since the commencement of Z's extraordinary third term in Authority in late 2022 Chinese authorities have progressively limited public access to information encompassing economic indicators and Regulatory decisionmaking this has posed additional difficulties for foreign policy makers a
nalysts and businesses in evaluating the trajectory of the country as it emerges from the isolation caused by the pandemic legislators have enacted legislation aimed at strengthening the regulation of sensitive trade and economic data as well as countering Espionage activities these laws have posed challenges for firms as they strive to adhere to the new regulations in June China ceased the publication of data on youth unemployment which had reached unprecedented levels during a sluggish economi
c recovery following the pandemic Chinese officials have previously praised China judgments online as the most extensive repository of its sort globally including over 140 million entri however the number of freshly published court records reached its lowest point in the past 10 years last year with little more than 10 million additions in 2022 just 30% of verdicts encompassing criminal civil and administrative proceedings as well as Government compensation and enforcement measures were publicly
disclosed this is a significant decrease compared to nearly 70% in previous years the decrease increase in activity on China judgments online along with insufficient assurances on the functionality of the new judicial database has raised concerns among attorneys and legal observers this reform should be regarded as a significant and substantial change however the reasoning behind the reform remains undisclosed stated an unidentified specialist in Chinese law practicing lawyers utilize the curre
nt database for many purposes such as deter determining the appropriate court for litigation and evaluating the likelihood of success for specific legal arguments the individual stated the release of a confidential official media memo in December triggered extensive scrutiny on social media Platforms in the previous month the state broadcaster CCTV released a Q&A session featuring an unidentified official the purpose of this session was to address concerns regarding transparency however it was m
entioned that the Supreme People's Court implemented specific corrective actions for China judgments online in July 2021 these actions were taken due to security concerns and led to a decrease in the number of accessible documents International corporations also extensively depend on China judgments online to perform thorough investigations in China as a crucial aspect of their commercial operations or new investment choices I have doubts about their willingness to provide the current informatio
n for free as it does not align with their current actions expressed an anonymous individual involved in the due diligence process there appears to be a genuine shift towards establishing a more closed court system no response was received from the Supreme People's Court of China about the request for comment
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