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Honor guards march during the flag raising ceremony in front of the Olympic Games Village People’s Local Court. The people's court will deal with international civil cases during the Games. It was put into use on July 16, 2008 and is expected to handle around 70 percent of all cases related to the Olympics. [Xinhua]
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BEIJING -- The Olympic Games Village People's Local Court, the only law facility bearing the Olympic title in the country, opened here on Wednesday.
Located in the Olympic Village in the city's northeast, the building is named in accordance with the Supreme People's Court's rule that courts should be named for their location.
During the Games, about 70 percent of cases related to the Olympics will be heard in the building, which is the seventh commissary court of Chaoyang District People's Court. The district is home to most of the Games' venues.
The new court will mainly hear civil cases, such as those for house rental, labor disputes and personal injury. Also handled here are cases for foreigners' personal injury, property damage and labor dispute caused by activities of the Games, tourism, accommodations, shopping, transport, dining and entertainment, said Qian Yixin, the court's chief judge.
The court was established in June 2007 and had operated nearby in a contemporary office near the compound built for the Asian Games Village in 1990.
Its new location is less than one km away from the apartments of the Olympic athletes in the east, facing the Badaling Expressway in the west. The new court is equipped with 11 courtrooms -- seven small-sized, three middle-sized and one large.
Covering a judicial area of 57.22 square km, the court's territory includes the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, the Olympic Green, the Olympic Village and many hotels, among others.
Most of the Olympic-related civil cases would be heard here, including many related to foreign affairs. To better help the procedures, all guides and signs are in both Chinese and English, Qian said.
A Foreign-Interests-Related Courtroom with a 27-seat gallery is one of its features. It is installed with a three-track simultaneous interpretation system.
