IN DECEMBER 2017, the Supreme People's Court made its final verdict on a case involving disputes over ownership of a coal mine in Shaanxi province. However, according to a recent report all the materials relating to the case have been "lost". Beijing News comments:

The dispute happened between two organizations in the province, which lasted 12 years in all. However, on Dec 26, a report said that all the documents of the case, including the original and a copy, had been lost.

The fact quickly went viral online as Cui Yongyuan, a famous former news anchor who has a micro blog with 19.3 million followers, reposted the report and attached four photos of the "lost" documents. Besides that, a video clip of the chief judge in charge of the case also went viral online, in which he asked who had taken the documents and why the Supreme People's Court did not call the police after the documents went missing.

The top court confirmed later that two of the photos posted by Cui were the same as the missing documents. It also said that an investigation has been launched.

It is too early to conclude what happened to the documents or whether there are any dirty deals involved in the case. However, at least one thing is certain: The loss of the documents does very heavy damage to the image of the court.

The documents of a court ruling consist of the evidence presented by the two sides, as well as records of all the meetings and hearings, which are of direct importance to the final ruling made. If they were lost, the final ruling might have been affected and justice left undone.

The SPC staff that are in charge of security of the materials should be held answerable for the loss. If the loss of documents is found to have caused serious results, the staff responsible might face charges. If the investigation finds, as some suspect, that any insiders were involved in the case, those insiders should face severe consequences for their actions.

The case should also draw a lesson to all judicial staff nationwide to have a stricter sense of duty.