Towards Online Justice: An Empirical Study Of Civil Electronic Litigation In Chin

In the last ten years,an online era is beginning,and human society is entering an online society.The development of Internet technology has profoundly changed our social life and has been deeply integrated with various industries.The combination of civil justice and modern technology,especially communication technologies such as the Internet,has become increasingly close.Civil electronic litigation,as an innovation in trial methods using information technology,has become a national strategic plan and is accelerating in my country.But how should information technology be used to innovate trial methods? How should we understand and evaluate the current practice of civil electronic litigation? Focusing on this theme,this article uses a civil electronic litigation reform pilot court as a sample.On the one hand,it shows the current application of civil electronic litigation from the aspects of the number,type,and application procedures of civil electronic litigation cases,and on the other hand,from a dynamic perspective demonstrate the specific operation of civil electronic litigation,and combine relevant theories on this basis to objectively evaluate the effect of the implementation of civil electronic litigation reform and its position and functions in civil judicial practice,and from the civil litigation system based on the essence and development logic of the civil electronic litigation,it needs to understand and reflect on the problems and difficulties faced in the practice of civil electronic litigation,and try to transcend the "efficiency rationality" of technology to think about the current possibility and limit of the integration of technology and justice.As a new litigation method,civil electronic litigation is not only fragmented in the content of the discussion,but also lacks in-depth grasp and true perception of litigation practice.It often limits the scope of the Internet to a certain civil litigation link.Simple superposition fails to get rid of the instrumental value of technology being used in the judicial field.Therefore,the research results formed are relatively preliminary,and the guiding significance for theoretical research and practice is relatively limited.This article is based on the era background and social field of the rise of civil electronic litigation.It not only uses empirical research methods to observe and analyze the pilot practice of civil electronic litigation from a dynamic perspective,but also considers the theory of civil electronic litigation in combination with the theory of civil litigation.The positioning and function of a new type of litigation in the current civil trial structure provides a practical and theoretical basis for understanding the existing status and future development trends of civil electronic litigation.The investigation found that under the impetus of the pilot civil electronic litigation reform,the application of all aspects of civil electronic litigation has achieved leapfrog development,especially the outbreak of the COVID-19 has accelerated the large-scale implementation of this "online experiment".However,the practice of sample courts also shows that the current practice of civil electronic litigation is still in constant change,and is affected by the internal judicial environment of different courts and the degree of social and economic development in the area where they are located.There is a large gap in the practice of various courts.On the whole,civil electronic litigation shows fragmented application characteristics in practice,and the application of various links is not balanced,especially the application rate of online court trials is significantly lower than other links.In addition,the cases that apply to online court trials are also mainly focused on the application of small claims procedures or summary procedures for the trial of simple cases.From the perspective of the practical operation of each link of civil electronic litigation,civil electronic litigation shows the advantages of "technological empowerment".Different litigation links reflect the characteristics of improving the efficiency of litigation and facilitating litigation by litigants.However,the above advantages is usually at the expense of the efficiency of other links to a certain extent,and the different experience of litigation feedback from different litigation participants through participating in civil electronic litigation is also worthy of our reflection.In addition to the rationality of tools such as improving litigation efficiency and facilitating the parties’ access to the court,this article further points out that civil electronic litigation also conceives potential functions such as enhancing the parties’ initiative in resolving disputes and optimizing the structure of court trials.In addition,the analysis also shows that from the perspective of the position of civil electronic litigation in the civil trial structure,the relationship between it and the traditional litigation method is embedded rather than opposed to each other.On this basis,this article extends the field of vision to the problems and dilemmas exposed in the practice of civil electronic litigation,and places them in a more macroscopic system development logic to grasp them,and then carry out the necessary understanding and reflection on the principles behind the dilemmas.Civil electronic litigation itself,as a new type of litigation method,its implementation in practice,its current stage,and the tension between the technology itself and the judiciary have shaped the current practice of civil electronic litigation,and to a certain extent It has become a challenge and predicament that it must face directly.But perhaps more importantly,as a new type of litigation method,civil electronic litigation may itself carry certain social functions and value orientations,and become a vane of dispute resolution methods and concepts.Regarding the future of the civil electronic litigation system,how to accurately discover and play the potential functions and value of civil electronic litigation in specific technical conditions and social background,and promote its complementary advantages with traditional litigation methods through system design,so as to maximize the realization of limited the optimal allocation of judicial resources is a subject worthy of our further serious consideration.Specifically,this paper deals with six parts,according to its basic structure and contents.The first part,the introduction,explains the era and social background of the rise of civil electronic litigation.Borrowing from the analytical concept of“Embeddedness” in sociology,this chapter first points out that the historical background of the sample courts and the political,economic,and cultural conditions constitute the social space embedded in the daily operation of civil electronic litigation,which is determined to a certain extent the operation mode and effect of its civil electronic litigation.Through the investigation of the external era environment in which the court is in and the internal judicial environment of the court,it can be found that the advent of the online era has promoted the combination of information technology and justice,and has given birth to a new type of litigation method of electronic litigation.The court’s initiative to use information and communication technology to try to achieve the goals of controlling litigation costs,improving case handling efficiency,and adapting to new types of cases in the online age is also an important background for the further exploration and promotion of electronic litigation.In addition,the outbreak of the COVID-19 has also accelerated the promotion of electronic litigation.Chapter two uses a large amount of data to systematically show the overall picture of the pilot reform of civil electronic litigation in the courts of City A through two different perspectives,horizontal and vertical,from the number,type,and application procedures of cases.Empirical research shows that courts in different regions present different applicable characteristics for different links of civil electronic litigation,and their application has a subtle and complex relationship with the level of economic and social development in the region.From a vertical perspective,the new crown pneumonia epidemic has accelerated the application of electronic litigation in practice,but the application rate of all aspects of civil electronic litigation,especially the application rate of online court trials,has shown obvious improvement as the situation of epidemic prevention and control improves.With the downward trend,the application rate of online court hearings is basically at a low level.Judging from the distribution of case types,most of the cases tried through online courts are relatively simple and easy to implement cases such as claims and debt disputes,and from the perspective of applicable procedures,most online court cases are applicable to small amount Litigation procedures or summary procedures are tried,while the proportion of cases that are tried by ordinary procedures is very limited.On the whole,all aspects of civil electronic litigation differ greatly in both the application rate and the absolute number of applications,showing an unbalanced characteristic.Chapter three is based on interview materials and relevant real cases,from a dynamic perspective,a vivid and detailed investigation of the procedure operation and practical content of each joint of civil electronic litigation,and on this basis,the practice of civil electronic litigation the applicable models are summarized.Investigation found that compared with traditional civil litigation,civil electronic litigation differs greatly in actual operation,and the core content of each link of the litigation has also undergone certain changes due to changes in the form of litigation.For example,in online case filing,there are two modes of direct filing and preliminary filing in practice,which have different legal effects;on the one hand,online court trials have undergone major changes in the form of evidence investigation compared with traditional court trials.On the other hand,the focus of the trial has shifted from the cross-examination of evidence to the investigation conducted by the judge.In addition,the substantive pre-trial preparation activities that are more common in practice have had an impact on the structure of the trial to a certain extent.Through investigation,we can also find that there are two rudimentary online court trials in practice.The first is to conduct court investigations and then the court debates.The second is to conduct court investigations and court debates together.Chapter four is based on the previous investigation and analysis of the application situation and operation process of civil electronic litigation,and analyzes the operational effects of the pilot reform of civil electronic litigation from the perspectives of the application effects and shortcomings of electronic litigation.The analysis found that,driven by the pilot reform and the new crown pneumonia epidemic,the application rate of civil electronic litigation has been significantly improved,and the practical operation of civil electronic litigation has also played a role in stimulating the initiative and optimization of the parties to resolve disputes to a certain extent.However,the contribution of civil electronic litigation to improving the efficiency of litigation,the satisfaction of litigation participants and the reduction of litigation costs is relatively limited.In this regard,what deserves our further consideration is to grasp the true operating results of civil electronic litigation from practice and to reasonably locate it.Because the current reform goals of civil electronic litigation may imply our unreasonable expectations and even prejudice against civil electronic litigation.Analysis shows that the relationship between civil electronic litigation and traditional litigation methods is embedded rather than opposed to each other,and the online trial method is not the third form between oral trial and written trial.In this sense,we should not blindly emphasize the "efficiency rationality" of civil electronic litigation,and the value contained in it that can be actively utilized,nor can it be easily denied due to the temporary poor operation effect.Chapter five focuses on the problems and dilemmas exposed in the practice of civil electronic litigation,and places them in a more macroscopic system development logic to grasp them,and then make the necessary understanding and understanding of the principles behind the dilemmas.Reflection.Analysis shows that in terms of operating mechanism,on the one hand,the pilot courts have the problem of selectively implementing the pilot reform plan based on their own conditions and performing specific operations according to their own circumstances;on the other hand,the current practice of civil electronic litigation is similar to traditional litigation methods.Double-track parallel repetitive operation phenomenon.In terms of coordination with traditional litigation theory,the operation of civil electronic litigation needs to solve the problem of judicial authority,face its impact on the principle of direct speech,bridge the conflict between it and the traditional evidence rules,and deal with the issue of substantial equality of litigation participants.At the level of technical protection,there are still problems such as the lack of a unified electronic litigation service platform,the functions of related platforms to be improved,complicated operations,and hidden dangers in information and data security.The following analysis shows that the reason for facing the above-mentioned practical dilemma is actually determined by the current inherent structural factors,namely,the implementation method of civil electronic litigation reform,the realistic stage of the reform,and the tension between the technology itself and the judicial system.Together they have shaped the appearance of the practice of civil electronic litigation and have also become a key factor restricting the effectiveness of their practice.In addition,in response to the difficulties faced in practice,this chapter also proposes a triple path to perfect the civil electronic litigation.The conclusion returns to the status quo of the practice of civil electronic litigation again,indicating that it is currently in a state of continuous development and integration with traditional litigation methods,and from the perspective of the reform and promotion path,it points out the characteristics and characteristics of China’s electronic litigation development process and make a phased summary and prospect for the "Chinese Story" on the march towards online justice.