On June 29, 2022, the Shanghai Chongming District People¡¯s Court (the ¡°Court¡±) held an online press conference to release the Outline of the Five-Year Development Plan of the Shanghai Chongming District People¡¯s Court (2022-2026) (the ¡°Outline¡±). Focusing on the goal of promoting the high-quality development of the people¡¯s courts for a new era and providing better services and guarantees to build Chongming into a world-class ecological island, the Outline offers a five-year plan from four aspects: guiding ideology, overall objectives, planned tasks, and implementation requirements.

According to the Outline, the Court follows the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, centers on the goal of ¡°letting the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case¡±, focuses on the vision of ¡°building a first-class court for a new era that matches the status of a world-class ecological island¡±, sticks to the main line of ¡°ecology-based justice¡±, strives to become a professional, modern, specialized, and international court, and scrambles for a leading position in terms of judicial performance, judicial service, judicial reform, judicial technology, and judicial team.

By 2026, the Court will have made great achievements in law enforcement and case handling, ecological characteristics, people¡¯s well-being, reform and innovation, scientific and technological empowerment, and team building, so as to become a first-class court for a new era that matches the status of a world-class ecological island. It will become more professional. Efforts will be made to give full play the role of judicial functions, improve the talent training mechanism, and increase the credibility of the judiciary. It will ensure more modern trial. Efforts will be made to develop a smart court and improve the modernization level of the trial system and trial capacity, so as to provide better litigation services. It will improve its specialized work. Efforts will be made to improve the ecology-based judicial system of the Court, create an ecology-based judicial pattern, and expand the ecology-based judicial effect. It will have an elevated international vision. Efforts will be made to plan and promote the high-quality development of the Court with a higher position, a wider field of vision, and higher standards.

According to the Outline, the main tasks to be performed by the Court in the next five years include 32 specific initiatives on six fronts - strengthening political guidance and sticking to the right direction; giving play to judicial functions and providing targeted services to guarantee the overall situation; concentrating on the main duties to fully demonstrate fairness and justice; continuing with reform and innovation to build a modern adjudication system; enhancing international vision and encouraging the adoption of innovative approaches; cultivating more talents to consolidate the foundation for the development of the Court.

The Outline proposes the need to strengthen the Court through ecology-based justice, embed the concept of ecology-based justice into all aspects and the whole process of its work, and create an ecology-based justice pattern based on the trial of cases over the environment and resources, with the participation of all departments and the support of all fields. Efforts will be made to set up dispatch courts and special agencies in the key areas under ecological protection, improve the judicial coordination mechanism for ecological protection in the Yangtze River estuary, and hold a judicial seminar on the world-class ecological island of Chongming, which will see well-known experts and scholars at home and abroad. The Court will also carefully handle new types of cases involving financial innovation and green finance, as well as typical cases that can help guide the financial market, thereby improving the mechanism for financial dispute resolution and risk warning.

On improving the well-being of the people: according to the Outline, we should adhere to the people-centered approach, and continue to launch the activities to solve the problems that worry the people. With the aid of judge studios at villages or neighborhoods, we will develop a pattern of highlighting the focus offline and covering all online, and create a ¡°Fengqiao-style people¡¯s court¡±. we should establish a sound mechanism featuring ¡°package mediation and substantive resolution¡± to resolve disputes involving administrative organs.

On highlighting fairness and justice: according to the Outline, we should continue with the judicial reform by separating the complex cases from the simple ones, developing the trial teams, handling cases online throughout the whole process, and improving trial productivity and judicial efficiency. We should create a closed loop of online litigation work from the filing of the case to the announcement and enforcement of the judgment, so that the parties involved can complete all the activities without coming to the Court and using a piece of paper. A collaborative governance mechanism should also be set up in areas such as environmental and intellectual property protection. In addition, we should work on the establishment of a family trial center and a family education guidance station to improve judicial protection of women, children, and the elderly.

On strengthening team building: according to the Outline, under the command of political development, we should stick to the fact that the people¡¯s courts are the first attribute of political organs and strive to build a loyal and clean judicial force. We should spread the character of Shanghai, inherit the pioneering spirit of Chongming, develop a judicial culture centering on fairness and justice, and encourage the cadres and policemen across the Court to strive for the best. We should optimize the echelon of team by making better and stronger middle-level forces, improving quality and ability, and cultivating model workers, hence a sustainable team with sufficient members covering the old and the young, reasonable structure, and full vitality.

Shen Xuanmin, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice President of the Court, said at the press conference that the Court will improve the judicial supply capacity across the board, keep upgrading the ecological judicial system, and provide good judicial services and strong judicial guarantees for the cause of building Chongming into a beautiful place that is suitable for people to work, live, and visit, and where man lives in harmony with nature.