New measures to reduce protests

Courts across the country will step up efforts to help local governments cope with an increasing number of mass incidents involving disputes over wages and management amid the economic downturn, the Supreme¹ People's Court (SPC) said in a guideline released yesterday.

"The courts will focus on dealing² with a sharp increase in mass incidents especially in the mediation³ of demonstrations⁴. If there is any trend seen in 'mass petitions', the courts should also work closely with local administrative⁵ departments," the document said.

Judicial⁶ departments should "establish an early warning mechanism⁷" and direct their resources in line with law enforcement, the SPC said.

Courts will also closely monitor other major incidents that might affect social stability. In case of incidents that might result in violent conflicts, courts should inform local government departments in time to work out efficient solutions, it said.

Other measures include adopting caution in property seizures⁸, detentions⁹ or freezing of assets, if affected¹⁰ enterprises are facing temporary financial strain.

The courts have also been urged to help beleaguered¹¹ businesses tide over difficulties by mediating¹² with their debtors¹³.

"Similarly, the courts should cautiously apply enforcement measures for auction¹⁴ and liquidation¹⁵ in dealing with major production facilities of factory houses and equipment," it said.

In cases involving large- and medium-sized State-owned and State-holding enterprises, financial institutions and listed companies, the courts should voluntarily communicate with state assets management and supervision¹⁶ departments, to apply solutions that "avoid coercive measures leading to bankruptcy¹⁷ and social instability".

Yu Lingyu, director general of the SPC's enforcement bureau, said the global financial crisis had made a "huge impact" on the country's courts.

"The number of businesses going bankrupt continues to grow, leading to more disputes over salary claims and more cases involving vulnerable groups," Yu said.

Last year, 286,221 labor¹⁸ disputes were heard by the country's courts, a 93-percent rise on 2007, while the number stood at 98,568 cases in the first three months this year, a 59-percent year-on-year rise, SPC figures showed.

Liu Junhai, chief of the commercial law research institute of the Renmin University of China, said the latest measures "were necessary".

In Fujian and Guangdong provinces, recent disputes over such issues involved hundreds of workers dragging companies to court.

"It is very important to handle such cases carefully as some large enterprises have divisional companies across the country. Court decisions in one place might lead to mass incidents in other places," Liu told China Daily.

The professor said joint¹⁹ efforts between judicial departments and administrative governments do not hamper²⁰ citizens' rights and interests, "and only help lead to win-win situations".

"The best solution is to help enterprises tide over their current difficulties so that workers will not lose jobs in the long-run," Liu said.

Su Haopeng, dean of the civil and commercial law department of the University of International Business and Economics, suggested that enterprises and governments shoulder more social responsibility, such as "injecting more investment" to cope with the current economic challenges.