My name is Serik Nuhmar, and I am a judge. I am now the presiding judge of the Yongfengqu People's Tribunal under the Primary People's Court of Urumqi County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. I would like to share with you a story that happened in our mediation room.

The plaintiff surnamed Yu, and the defendant named Haderbek, had been close friends for years. In 2022, Yu hired Haderbek to care for 150 of his sheep, and they signed a contract. However, when the term of the contract came to an end, Haderbek refused to return the sheep. After several attempts at communication, the two were unable to come to a consensus, leaving Yu with no choice but to resort to legal action. To try to resolve the case without litigation, we invited the two of them to meet us in our cozy yurt used as a mediation room.

"Is this really a court?" asked Haderbek in surprise when he arrived at the yurt. "It looks just like my yurt."

"We have milk tea here, too," I replied. "Take a seat, please, and let's enjoy some tea while we chat." It only took these few words for Haderbek's antagonistic attitude to melt away.

Engaging both the head and the heart is key for effective mediation. I explained to them what the law was in this case, including the validity of contracts, and gently persuaded them to prioritize their long-standing friendship. In the end, they both made concessions and shook hands.

After the mediation, Haderbek smiled and said to me, "Serik, that milk tea warmed my heart." I beamed and said, "There's no obstacle that tea can't overcome!"

Through this kind of mediation, we resolve more than 200 cases a year without litigation.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China is sparsely populated. In any given county, there may be many miles between a township and the county town; and the agricultural and pastoral areas are even farther away. In recent years, the Yongfengqu People's Tribunal has introduced new ways to hear cases. It moves the court on horseback or in a vehicle, bringing justice right to people's doorsteps. At the same time, the tribunal has been leveraging information technology to enhance the efficiency of handling legal cases. Justice is delivered at high speed and with warmth.

In March 2021, our tribunal became the first grassroots court to adopt translation software in case hearings. Using this software, Mandarin can be translated into Uygur, Kazak and vice versa. I remember well that on December 28, 2021, the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region held an Open Day and invited deputies to the national and Xinjiang regional people's congresses, members of the national and Xinjiang regional committees of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and representatives of retired judges to come to visit the tribunal. We gave them a demonstration of how the translation software works in practice, which drew praise from everyone present.

A retired judge was very impressed by the software. "Previously, it would take a judge two to three days to translate a verdict," he said. "Today, it can be done in just eight seconds. It's so fast." The use of the translation software not only saves judicial resources but also safeguards the fundamental rights of people from all ethnic groups to use their own languages in legal proceedings.

I have been a judge for almost 30 years now, and each time a case is closed, it brings me great joy. Times are changing, but the pursuit of fairness and justice for all in every court case has never changed and will never change.

The author is Serik Nuhmar, the presiding judge of the Yongfengqu People's Tribunal, the Primary People's Court of Urumqi County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Liu Xian /Editor    Chen Yutang /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Ren Qiang /Coordinator

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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