BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- A draft decision on starting a pilot program on reforming civil procedures was submitted on Monday to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation.

A group of courts in 20 Chinese cities will be authorized to explore new ways of handling simple civil cases after separating such cases from their complicated counterparts.

For example, selected courts could expand the scope of mediation agreements eligible for judicial confirmation, raise the threshold for small claims cases, apply the summary procedure and the sole-judge system to more cases and improve the rules for online trials, without changing the current civil procedure law.

The pilot program is expected to be carried out in courts at the intermediate and primary level in the cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as three intellectual property courts, the Shanghai Financial Court and three internet courts.

Once approved by the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People's Court will be authorized to make a detailed plan on implementing the program, which will last for two years.

During the program, efforts should be made to guarantee the litigation rights of parties involved and boost efficiency while ensuring justice, according to the draft.