Jiangxi takes lead in launching remote legal service platform

East China's Jiangxi province has already established an online platform for public legal services that cover all judicial offices at township-level across the province, according to a press conference held by the province's justice department on Nov 20.

With the use of new technologies, such as big data, cloud video conferences and artificial intelligence, the platform has gathered the province's high-quality legal service resources with the aim of providing the public with accessible, visible and useful legal services. It is noteworthy that Jiangxi is the country's first province to launch remote legal services platform that covers all township-level regions.

Jiangxi is a major agricultural province in China, with 40 percent of its 45 million population residing in rural areas. Currently, legal service resources, including lawyers, notaries and judicial forensics, are mainly concentrated in the cities, particularly in the central areas of the province. As a result, most rural areas, especially remote villages, are facing a shortage of legal service resources, according to an official of the province's justice department.

To address the challenges of legal service needs in remote villages, the province's justice department has established the online platform based on its successful experience of similar systems. The platform connects rural areas with legal professionals in urban areas via video link, enabling rural residents to have video meetings with legal service professionals in urban areas for legal assistance at local judicial offices.

The platform began construction in April and was officially launched in October. To date, 1,398 judicial offices in the province have finished the construction of the platform.

The platform features such functions as online appointments, consultations and videos, and offers six types of services, including lawyers, notaries, legal aid, judicial forensics and online mediation.