The rise of the internet and its impact on the openness of the justice system in mainland China: improvements and limitations

The rise of the internet and its impact on the openness of the justice system in mainland China: improvements and limitations

The justice system of mainland China is characterised by secrecy to some extent, although it has been gradually reduced. The widespread availability and usage of the internet has brought a dramatic information flow in mainland China, which could be an opportunity for better access to law and the justice system and increased openness. However, the picture is rather mixed, which will be discussed this paper. Any information which might diminish public confidence on the justice system is still likely to be censored by various means, and public access to information on sensitive cases is still strictly controlled, although the difficulty of doing so is increased by the internet. Therefore, this paper concludes that the rise of the internet cannot definitely lead to more openness of and better access to the justice system without a reform of the system itself.

Duan, Zhuozhen

Journal of Open Access to Law; Vol. 1 No. 1 (2013)

2372-7152

Journal of Open Access to Law

2013-12-18

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eng

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Peer-reviewed article