‘Smart court’ and digital judicialism in China

Abstract

Abstract

How has digital technology been applied to the operation of courts and dispute resolution in authoritarian regimes? Drawing on ethnographic research on the construction of the ‘smart court’ in China, this article explores the impact of digital technology on the judicial system and dispute resolution through the prototypical cases of the ‘shared court’ and the ‘One Network of Courts Nationwide’, which operate, respectively, outside and inside the courts. The article reveals that, unlike in democratic countries, where digital technology is used in a relatively more conservative and limited way, digital technology has been used by the Chinese Communist Party to strengthen state control, monitor society, and maintain political stability, thus giving rise to digital judicialism. The study of digital judicialism shows that while digital technology has certainly improved the efficiency of social dispute resolution to some extent, it has been reduced to a toolkit for the government to recentralize political power and guard against political risks. The findings compel researchers to reassess the role of digital technology in facilitating the resolution of disputes because it can undermine judicial independence and the development of the rule of law under authoritarianism.