2023 is the fifth year after Shanghai launched the reform of government services on Government Online-Offline Shanghai. The Leading Group for Government Online-Offline Shanghai of Yangpu District, the Publicity Department of the CPC Yangpu District Committee and Yangpu District Integrated Media Center jointly released a series of reports on the fifth anniversary of Government Online-Offline Shanghai with a focus on changes in Yangpu District’s government service channels to demonstrate the convenience brought about by the reform.

According to the requirements of Government Online-Offline Shanghai, Yangpu District Bureau of Justice puts public legal services at the core, works closely with Yangpu Notary Office, Yangpu District Legal Aid Center and Yangpu District Public Legal Service Center, adopts innovative working methods according to the needs of the people and enterprises, strengthens collaboration, optimizes service processes and improves service efficiency to achieve integrated development of online and offline public legal services.

Innovative working methods and notary services

On the basis of services available on the Government Online-Offline Shanghai platform in the Yangtze River Delta region, Yangpu District Bureau of Justice actively explores new models of cross-provincial government services according to the strategic needs of integrated government services in Taizhou and Yangpu District in an effort to improve government services and notary services and to promote the integrated development of notarization in the Yangtze River Delta region. Through mutual recognition of notarization agreements, Yangpu District and Taizhou City have achieved instant access to certification materials. People in these two areas no longer need to travel across provinces to handle such matters. This move greatly improves the efficiency of notary services and saves labor costs and time.

With a focus on the central task and overall interests, Yangpu District Bureau of Justice insists on innovation in notary and legal services. It signed the

Co-construction and Cooperation Framework Agreement

with Shanghai Overseas Chinese Affairs Center and launched the Remote Notary Services Platform for Overseas Chinese in Shanghai to strengthen cooperation with the Center and protect the lawful rights and interests of overseas Chinese and their family members. Through collaboration with the Center and the empowerment of technology, Yangpu District Bureau of Justice created a new model of serving overseas Chinese around the clock, highlighting online contact with them, gathering them on the cloud and providing them with remote assistance so as to provide more efficient, more considerate and more personalized government services for them.

Strengthening collaboration to make legal aid available without application

Mr. Zhang joined a company as an IOS engineer in 2019. He worked overtime from time to time, but the company did not pay him the overtime compensation in full or on time. Recently, the company asked him to take a leave of absence and reduced his salary, citing poor management. For this reason, he went to Yangpu District Legal Aid Center, seeking legal aid in labor arbitration.

A clerk carefully reviewed the application materials submitted by Mr. Zhang and found that his overtime hours and other evidence were recorded in the company’s software, which could only be logged in with a personal account and the password. However, the company canceled his account during the labor dispute, resulting in the loss of evidence. The clerk informed him that he could get notary services with a discount without submitting an application or supporting materials in accordance with the law and relevant regulations.

As this was the first case of its kind, Yangpu Notary Public Office promptly reviewed the transfer sheet issued by the Yangpu District Legal Aid Center after receiving it, and determined that Mr. Zhang met the standards. The Office immediately provided him with evidence preservation and notarization services free of charge and issued a notarization document the next day, which made him relieved.

The notary fee reduction is aimed at benefiting the people. The measure reduces legal aid recipients’ litigation expenses and demonstrates the legal guarantee function of legal aid and the public welfare property of the notary sector, allowing people to take less trips and get more benefits and greatly enhancing people’s sense of gain and satisfaction.

Improving efficiency and serving people sincerely to resolve their concerns

Yangpu District Bureau of Justice actively incorporates diversified dispute resolution services into the Suishenban app and the Government Online-Offline Shanghai platform, adheres to the convenience and benefits of the people, actively optimizes the process and continuously improves the effectiveness of mediation. Making efforts on both sides of mediation, it requires that mediation organizations handle applications in a timely manner in strict accordance with the requirements, transfer disputes that meet the requirements to the mediation process promptly, assign mediators in a timely manner and provide considerate and heart-warming services for applications. Since the beginning of 2023, mediation organizations in Yangpu District have received more than 2,100 online applications for dispute mediation. More than 2,000 disputes have been successfully mediated.

Previously, the People’s Mediation Committee of Jiangpu Road Sub-district received an application for family dispute mediation on the “one thing” services platform. The Committee quickly engaged in dispute mediation and successfully resolved a family dispute caused by a relocation payment.

Considering that the applicant was 92 years old, the mediator visited him together with members of the neighborhood committee for his convenience. After learning about the situation and the applicant’s demands, the mediator held a mediation meeting and encouraged his five children to communicate rationally according to the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly. While showing respect to the applicant’s wishes, the mediator adopted a “back-to-back” method to control the pace of mediation and encourage his children to talk about his future life to resolve the dispute in one go. Afterwards, all of the applicant’s children promised that they would cover his medical expenses and other expenses in the future to ensure that he could enjoy his old age in peace.

Since the launch of the “one thing” service for dispute resolution, Yangpu District Bureau of Justice has actively carried out publicity. It instructed Yangpu District People’s Mediation Association to create promotional leaflets on dispute resolution, which are placed in the Yangpu District Public Legal Service Center and the public legal service stations of all sub-districts and distributed to people who come for consultation. Information about mediators is made public at the mediation venues. Besides, promotional videos on the “one thing” service for dispute resolution are played in each reception hall, guiding the public to submit applications on the Suishenban app and the website of Government Online-Offline Shanghai. Through online and offline publicity, Yangpu District Bureau of Justice enhances the awareness of enterprises and the people so as to continuously optimize the process of the “one thing” service for dispute resolution and improve efficiency.

Over the past five years, Yangpu District has always adhered to the concept of “a people’s city for the people” and regarded the expectations of enterprises and the people as the goal and direction of the reform in Government Online-Offline Shanghai. The next issue will present the results of Yangpu District Construction and Administration Commission and the changes in Yangpu District’s government services in more detail.