Shanghai court sets guidelines for judges

Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court announced on Wednesday that it had formed guidelines for judges on how to review and rule on 10 categories of cases.

The guidelines, built on experiences of typical cases, are aimed to offer a good reference for judges when they look into similar cases, the court said.

Guidelines for cases in the categories including false lawsuits, private lending, government information disclosure and illegal fundraising, have been introduced and applied in the court and the seven district courts within its jurisdiction.

Liu Li, deputy director of the court, said that it is difficult to have two identical cases.

"But the guidelines can serve the judges as a good roadmap when looking into similar cases," he said.

Such a practice also will help improve the predictability of the court verdict and guide the public to have a reasonable expectation for the result, Liu said.