Lawyers in Shanghai have embraced a pioneering Internet platform that allows them to file cases and pay legal fees online, China Daily reported.
According to the report, the website, passport.lawyers.org.cn, has been used by more than 1,300 of the city's 1,413 law firms since its launch in January last year, for filing appeals, submitting and receiving legal material, communicating with judges and accessing more than 13,000 cases.
Cao Hongxing, director of the information management division of the Shanghai High People's Court, said that the real advantage of Shanghai's system is the online payment function, which distinguishes it from the websites adopted by other courts in China.
"Among all such platforms developed by courts all over China, this is the only one allowing lawyers to fully complete the procedure of initiating lawsuits, and the first to have functions extending to the whole process--from litigation to case tracking and implementation," Cao said.
Cao added that the biggest problem with initiating an online payment system was establishing the "string of links that need to be dealt with" between banks, lawyers, litigants and the courts.
"But the Shanghai court solved this problem," the director said. "Now a notification of payment will be generated by the system automatically and the lawyer can make the payment online after litigation materials have been submitted and put on file by a judge. In this way, lawyers can file a lawsuit at home, from the office, or even while on a business trip."
The court said that every registered lawyer in the city can log on to the website using his professional ID card, which also allows the system to trace their activities.
The report said that lawyers from Shenzhen and Guangzhou were given access to the platform using their local professional ID cards, while legal professionals from other areas were only granted access after verification of their identity.
Huang Jiayong, a lawyer from Shanghai Yingtai Law Firm, welcomed the development.
"We used to shuttle back and forth from court and wait in line again and again to hand over material, apply for litigation, make payments and exchange evidence. But with this platform, all that takes just 10 minutes or so," Huang said.
According to Huang Yi, vice president of the Shanghai Bar Association, the platform was just one of the ways that shows that the working environment of lawyers in the city has improved.