Consolidate the joint efforts of multiple parties to build a harmonious countryside (building a higher level of safe China) Disputes | Contradictions | Levels
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In order to promote the construction of harmonious rural areas and diversify the resolution of conflicts and disputes, Changtu County, Liaoning Province has established a "one court, two offices, and multiple departments" grassroots social governance platform. Led by the County Committee's Political and Legal Affairs Committee, grassroots courts have intervened in advance, and various town police stations and judicial offices have taken the initiative. The town government's petition office, business station, civil affairs office, women's federation and other relevant departments have jointly participated to strengthen the governance of litigation sources, basically achieving the goal of "not leaving the village for small matters, not leaving the town for major matters, and not submitting conflicts".
"Thank you so much to the town. The three of us have been going through a lot of trouble over these things for over a decade, and there has been some trouble in between. Now it can be considered a resolution." In Changfa Town, Changtu County, Tieling City, Liaoning Province, villager Ji Dajie was very excited. Finally, the three neighboring villagers who had contracted for land and forest land held hands together.
The villagers came in high spirits and left with smiles on their faces. Upon investigation, Liu Bao, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Changtu County, said, "We have innovated our work mechanism and achieved the linkage of 'one court, two institutions, and multiple departments'."
Changtu County is a major agricultural county with a rural population of over 450000. Disputes related to land contracting, contract buying and selling, and family and neighborhood issues often occur. Last year, Changtu County established a practical platform for grassroots social governance with "one court, two offices, and multiple departments". Led by the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Changtu County, with the town party committee as the center, grassroots courts intervened in advance, and various town police stations and judicial offices took the initiative. Relevant departments such as the town government's petition office, business station, civil affairs office, and women's federation jointly participated. Since its operation, the platform has successfully mediated 2120 various conflicts and disputes.
A service center to resolve conflicts and disputes
Entering the office of the Social Governance Service Center in Changfa Town, there is a conference table in the middle that can accommodate more than 10 people. This is the "headquarters" of Changfa Town, where "one court, two offices, and multiple departments" work together. When villagers encounter conflicts and disputes, they are willing to come here to sit and chat.
Not long ago, a lighting rights dispute was successfully resolved here. Two households in Changfa Town are neighbors, and one household needs to do initial peanut processing. The construction of a processing room is relatively high, which affects the lighting of the other household's house, leading to a dispute between the two families. The villager who was blocked from the light had a tough attitude: "Anyway, his family needs to dismantle the processing room."
After learning about the situation, Liu Tiannan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Changfa Town and Director of the Town Social Governance Service Center, quickly called Cai Chuang, the presiding judge of the Jinjia Court responsible for mediating conflicts and disputes in the town. He agreed to come to mediate with staff from the judicial office, police station, political and legal committee members of the Town Party Committee, and village cadres during the afternoon light blocking period.
"We parked our car in the town and walked quite far to reach the villagers' houses involved, fearing that it would have a negative impact on them. In the future, the relationship between the two families will be even worse," said Cai Chuang.
On site experience, taking photos for certification, and staff conducting ideological work for both parties. The next day, in the office of the town's social governance service center, two households of villagers sat face to face. The court, police station, and judicial office presented on-site evidence, combined with legal knowledge and the way villagers get along, and gave their respective opinions. In the end, both sides adopted the town's judicial proposal.
It's nearly half an hour's drive from the Jin Family Court to Changfa Town, and Cai Chuang and his colleagues go back and forth. "If this dispute is filed, the two households of villagers will have to go to the court at least two or three times, and the neighborhood relationship will become even more tense in the future. Therefore, we are willing to spend more time mediating and maintaining harmony between the town and the village, as well as among the villagers," Cai Chuang said.
Unclear family conflicts, disputes over buying and selling prices, disputes between neighbors, and disputes over labor and capital debts... Opening a mediation record book at the town's social governance service center, all kinds of cases are well documented. "There are generally few major cases in rural areas, and more of them are minor matters. However, if minor matters are not handled properly, they may lead to adverse consequences. In the past two years, after implementing the" one court, two offices, and multiple departments "linkage, we have basically achieved the goal of" not leaving the village for minor matters, not leaving the town for major matters, and not submitting conflicts "." Liu Bao said.
A set of institutional processes, weaving a dense governance network
"This is our 'one court, two institutions, and multiple departments' grassroots conflict resolution process diagram, and everyone has carried out their work based on it, with good cooperation." Liu Bao took out a workflow diagram with densely packed boxes and arrows.
This picture starts with 6180 grid workers in Changtu County, and discovers that conflicts and disputes are reported to the "Comprehensive Governance Tong" app. Simple conflicts are internalized in the grid, while general conflicts are reported to the village committee. The village party organization secretary, security director, and grid workers jointly mediate. If the mediation is unsuccessful, it will be reported to the town social governance service center, and the town party committee's political and legal committee members will mediate again. If the mediation is unsuccessful, it will be reported to the Deputy Secretary of the Town Party Committee and the Director of the Social Governance Service Center. The Town Party Committee will convene and activate the "one court, two institutions, and multiple departments" linkage mechanism. If the mediation is no longer successful, report to the County Social Governance Service Center and coordinate with the county-level departments to resolve the issue... The final task is to assist in the judicial process. "This picture controls the conflicts and disputes among villagers within a legally controllable range, promoting rights protection and problem-solving," said Liu Bao.
On the basis of the linkage of "one court, two offices, and multiple departments", the local government has also established a three-level social governance service center at the county, town, and village levels, with the town level social governance service center as the main body. It adheres to the initiative of grassroots courts, police stations, and judicial offices, and relevant departments of the town government actively participate, forming a diversified resolution force for disputes. At the same time, if a mediation agreement is reached, the people's court shall promptly confirm it.
In order to strengthen the cohesion of carrying out linkage work and solve the problem of insufficient use of judges, Changtu County People's Court has publicly selected 20 full-time people's mediators to the society; The county public security bureau set up a supervision group to carry out special supervision and inspection on 36 registered residence police stations in the county.
One on-site interpretation to enhance reasoning effectiveness
Last year, a company temporarily buried drainage ditches on both sides of agricultural land in villages such as Zhuangjiayao and Liuhu in Sanjiangkou Town due to transportation needs during project construction, but they were not cleared in a timely manner. Last July, heavy rainfall erupted in the Liaohe River area, causing over 300 households of farmers to suffer from land damage due to poor drainage. Due to the large area of affected land and the difficulty in defining compensation standards, conflicts have arisen between the two parties.
After this year's Spring Festival, when the company continued to build projects, some emotionally affected villagers hindered the construction, forcing the projects to be put on hold. The Changtu County Committee, the County Committee's Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and the Sanjiangkou Town Party Committee immediately launched a "one court, two institutions, and multiple departments" linkage mechanism.
The staff set up a village mediation room in Zhuangjiayao Village, the hardest hit area, and coordinated the pre litigation mediation meeting attended by the party committee of Sanjiangkou Town, the company, the village committees of each village, villagers' representatives, and the people's court to discuss and determine the mediation plan on the scope and amount of compensation for the affected land. At present, the affected villagers have received compensation, and the companies involved have also resumed project construction.
When it comes to the experience of properly resolving this contradiction and dispute, the relevant person in charge said, "Patiently explaining, not only reasoning, but also giving examples, so that the people can understand and reason clearly. This not only opens up the heart knot, but also protects their rights and interests, thereby achieving the social effect of 'mediating a case and influencing a whole area'."
It is understood that Changtu County has currently trained more than 1400 "legal experts" at the grassroots level.
