China launches first Internet court in e-commerce hub

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A copyright infringement case is being heard in the city of Hangzhou on Friday, but what's unique is that neither the plaintiff or the defendant's lawyers are physically present in the court room.

The plaintiff is the writer of a novel that inspired a popular Chinese TV series, and she is suing Chinese internet firm NetEase for the unauthorized use of her works.

All this is taking place at the Hangzhou Court of the Internet, which has been in operation for about two months and is officially opened today.

"Since our court went into operation in May, 2605 cases have been filed, and 1,444 of them were settled”, said Du Qian, president of the Hangzhou Court of The Internet.

The newly launched Hangzhou Court of the Internet. /Xinhua Photo

The new court handles the city's lawsuits concerning areas such as online shopping disputes, copyright protection, Internet loans and domain name disputes.

Legal officials believe the city of Hangzhou, which is home to tech giants such as Alibaba, is the ideal place to house such an innovation.

"Hangzhou has the largest number of websites, e-commerce platforms and third-party payment platforms anywhere in China. Its cloud computing, big data, mobile payment and smart logistics industries play a leading role in the world“, said Shao Jingteng, vice president of the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court.

The Hangzhou Internet Court is the first of its kind in the world. The age of the Internet requires things to be low cost and highly efficient. The Internet court is the legal system's response to this new demand.

And this is not just a traditional court with an Internet homepage — they have moved all procedures from filing, delivery, deposition, and court sessions online. Legal experts say it makes sense, since internet-related disputes usually transcend geographical boundaries.

Screenshot of Hangzhou Court of the Internet's website.

In the past, coordination across jurisdictions consumed extra resources. Now, the entire process can be done online, as long as there is access to an Internet connection.

"Citizens don't even need to leave their homes. Filing an Internet lawsuit can be as easy as shopping online”, said Zhu Shengyuan, vice president of the Zhejiang High People’s Court.

This has made the legal process much more efficient. Each court session lasts an average of 25 minutes, and each case is completed in an average of 32 days.

All Internet-related cases filed in Hangzhou will gradually be separated from the existing judicial system and dealt with exclusively by the new court. Officials say they will develop applications of big data, cloud computing and AI technologies to build a smart court for the Internet age.

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