Public interest litigation cases soar amid strong support

The number of public interest litigation cases filed by local procuratorial organs more than tripled last year, thanks to extensive support from people from all walks of life, a press release issued by the Shanghai People's Procuratorate said on Tuesday.

A total of 2,437 clues about public interest litigation cases were studied and judged, and some 2,104 cases dealt with by local procurators in the past 12 months, a year-on-year growth of 69.8 percent and 80 percent, respectively, according to the procuratorate.

To protect public interest, the city's procurators have developed an online platform that can be helpful in gathering clues about relevant public interest cases.

"The main problem for us in tackling cases is 'lack of the clues'," said Tu Chunhan, chief of the eighth department of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate. "Big data and other digital technologies used on this platform now provide us with abundant case clues."

Meanwhile, procurators' work on public interest litigation has received extensive support from people from all walks of life, including deputies of the National People's Congress and CPPCC members. As much as 70 percent of clues have been provided and discovered by the public.

The procurators also safeguard public interest using more flexible methods.

A total of 784 public interest cases were dealt with through hearings or consultations, accounting for 46.6 percent, and 757 cases of protecting public welfare were cleared via procuratorial suggestions, making up 45 percent.

The city's procuratorial organs primarily focus on six aspects to protect public interest on the app, including ecological environment and resources, food and drug safety, urban public environmental safety, barrier-free construction and aging adaptation, and personal information protection.

Among procuratorates, Jing'an District People's Procuratorate improved the efficiency of its public welfare cases by reducing the process of handling simple cases, Mao Wenjing, director of public interest prosecutor's Office of the Jing'an procuratorate, revealed.

Also, the Qingpu District People's Procuratorate established a public interest litigation system to protect cultural relics related to revolutionary history, according to Yu Li, director of public interest prosecutor's Office at the district procuratorate.