While many local Court Houses were damaged or collapsed in the major Sichuan earthquake on May 12, the local justice system has restarted operations again among the ruins, the Legal Daily reported.
Court Tents have already been set up in front of damaged Court Houses. "It may be that these working conditions will last for a considerable time, but our judges believe we can maintain fair and efficient Court proceedings," said Tan Yin, a spokesman with the Deyang Intermediate People's Court.
Sun Shanchang, a director of Mianyang Intermediate People's Court, said their Court and the Court of Anxian, one of the city's counties, will provide legal assistance to Beichuan Court if they need more specialists. Anxian Court resumed operation as early as May 19, before aftershocks had ceased.
On May 30, Hanwang Court and Mianzhu Court resumed operation in tents. Tan Yin said Shifang City's Yinfeng Township Court restarted operation as early as the day after the earthquake. So far, it has accepted 6 cases, closed 8 cases, sent 19 cases to higher Courts, and provided legal consultation for over 1,000 people.
In Deyang City, to June 3, 30 cases had been accepted, 69 had proceeded to trial, 53 had been held over and 72 were closed. By June 6, 148 had been closed, enforcing orders of over 91.50 million yuan.
On May 14, a middle-aged woman came to Shifang Court's tent to say that her husband was in custody in Shifang City's jail for causing traffic casualties. She said her house had collapsed, although the elderly and the children escaped death, but that they had had nothing to eat for days. Holding that her husband did not pose a genuine social threat, the Court quickly agreed to release him on bail.
On June 3, a man named Mao Fanglin was sentenced to 7½ years imprisonment and a 20,000 yuan fine for stealing in quake-areas at the tent Court in Shifang. He was arrested on May 17. This was a first post-quake case in which Shifang Court wanted to show that maintaining social order and fighting crime are a key priority at this time.
Several days ago Sichuan Province Superior Court issued an order asking all Courts in Sichuan to pay special attention to cases relevant to the earthquake, and make sure all such cases are handled in a timely and effective manner.