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4 IJODR 32 (2017)
Recent ODR Developments in China

handle is hein.journals/ijodr4 and id is 110 raw text is: Recent ODR Developments in China FANG Xuhui* The presentation topic I selected for the conference was based on a prediction made by Professor Richard Susskind, the Strategy and Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, after he visited Hangzhou West Lake Court in 2017. Professor Susskind said that he believed that China would become the next world leader in legal technology. I cannot quote this prediction without referring, by way of evidence, to the work of a number of Chinese lawyers for their contributions to recent online dispute resolution (ODR) developments in China who have all helped ODR to now become an essential part of 'Diversified Dispute Resolution' as promoted by the Supreme People's Court (SPC). As a result of their contributions, ODR is no longer now just a theory but is beginning to form part of the accepted practice in China's justice system. Judge CHEN Liaomin, the vice president of West Lake Court, was the first Hangzhou judge to whom I showed ODR after I had learnt about it from attend- ance at the annual International Forum on Online Dispute Resolution a few years ago. Since then, she has promoted ODR enthusiastically. Judge CHEN is now known as China's leading judicial protagonist of court technology.' In July 2017, Judge CHEN showed Professor Susskind how the legal technology worked in the court. Professor Susskind subsequently wrote: I was hugely impressed with what I saw: online legal help for court users; facilities for the e-filing of documents; virtual courts (enabling hearings by video); speaker-independent voice recognition (they have no need now of stenographers); and a demonstration of their first-generation online court services. As I tweeted afterwards, a highlight at the end of the visit was a con- versation with Judge Chen using a two-way, real-time voice recognition and translation system.2 After visiting Hangzhou Westlake Court, Professor Susskind expressed his impression: * FANG Xuhui is Law Professor of Nanchang University, associated researcher at Cybeijustice of University of Montreal, Senior Counsel of E-Better Business in Shenzhen, mediator of International Commercial Mediation Center for Belt & Road Initiative in Beijing and special mediator at Futian District Court of Shenzhen People's Court. 1 R. Susskind, 'China as the Next Leader in Legal Technology?', 12 August 2017, available at: https://www.scl.org/articles/9979-china-as-the-next-leader-in-legal-technology, last accessed 20 June 2018. 2 Id. International Journal on Online Dispute Resolution 2017 (4) 2