The plaintiff needs to pay the court in advance, and finally the judgment will determine who bears the legal costs. However, after Mr. Ren handed over more than 30,000 yuan of litigation fees to the Huangling County Court in advance in 2022, won the lawsuit, and awarded the litigation fees to the defendant, he did not return the advance fees after two years.
The plaintiff was helpless: it had been 2 years since the lawsuit was won, and the prepaid litigation fee of more than 30,000 yuan had not been returned
The plaintiff, Mr. Ren, and the defendants, Ms. Peng and Mr. Zheng, went to court over a dispute over the transfer of management rights. On July 12, 2022, the People's Court of Huangling County, Shaanxi Province ordered the defendant Mr. Zheng to repay the transfer money of RMB 1.11 million and related interest to the plaintiff, Mr. Ren. In addition, the court also ordered the case acceptance fee of 31,126 yuan to be borne by the defendant Mr. Zheng.
As the plaintiff, Mr. Ren showed the reporter the bills of litigation fees paid in advance to the Huangling County People's Court, a total of 31,126 yuan in three payments, and said, "After that, I filed an appeal to the Yan'an Intermediate People's Court and paid another litigation fee." The final judgment upheld the original judgment, and the final litigation costs shall be borne by me. ”
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Mr. Ren said that starting in 2023, he repeatedly applied to the Huangling County People's Court for a refund of the litigation fees paid in advance in the first instance, but there was no follow-up. In December 2023, he called the office of the president of the Huangling County People's Court, and the other party replied to him on the phone: "The litigation fee will be handed over to the state treasury as soon as it is collected, and the court will not be able to keep it." The judgment writes how much money you will be refunded, and you will have to be refunded. The other party (defendant) must be executed back to give you a refund, and if you don't execute it back, how can you give it back? It's not that I won't give you a refund, it's hard for you! ”
In June 2024, Mr. Ren complained to the petition department of the court, and on the 27th, the court called back and said: "I told the leader, and the leader said that there are regulations that cannot be refunded, and I also said that the parties asked what the regulations are, and what can I do if the leaders don't come up with them?" Letters and visits of the Huangling Court are also a department under the leadership of the president. ”
Mr. Ren said: "As ordinary people, we can't figure out what the law stipulates. But I won the lawsuit, and the prepaid legal fees were not refunded for a long time, how can there be such a reason? ”
On the morning of June 27, a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News contacted the Administrative Office of the Huangling County People's Court, and after understanding the cause of the incident, the staff said that they would contact the relevant person in charge. In the afternoon, the reporter called the office again, and the staff said that the reporter was asked to contact the relevant person in charge directly and provided a phone number. After the phone was called, the other party said that there was a rule in the hospital that individuals were not authorized to be interviewed.
The lawyer said: If you win the lawsuit and pay the litigation fees in advance, you can't let the plaintiff fall into such a predicament
Zhao Liangshan, a senior partner of Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm and a well-known public interest lawyer, believes that the State Council promulgated the Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees on April 1, 2007, and Articles 20 and 29 of the Measures simply stipulate that the case acceptance fee shall be paid in advance by the plaintiff, a third party with an independent claim, and the appellant; The litigation costs shall be borne by the losing party, unless the winning party voluntarily bears them. However, it did not clarify whether the court refunded the litigation fees paid by the plaintiff to the plaintiff after the plaintiff won the lawsuit. Subsequently, on April 20, 2007, the Supreme People's Court promulgated the Notice of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Measures for Payment of Litigation Costs, which clarified that the court should refund the litigation fees collected in advance to the winning plaintiff, and then the court should collect them directly from the defendant.
Zhao Liangshan explained that although the Notice of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees clearly states that the court shall refund the litigation fees collected in advance to the winning plaintiff, and then the court will collect them directly from the defendant. However, in judicial practice, the court still did not comply with the Notice, and the court still did not refund the litigation fees paid in advance by the winning plaintiff, but enforced the litigation fees together with the defendant's property from the court during the enforcement stage. If the defendant has no property to enforce, the plaintiff will fall into the situation of litigation costs and suffering.
Zhao Liangshan introduced, in fact, the original intention of the "Measures for Payment of Litigation Costs" is that the plaintiff pays the litigation fees in advance, and once the plaintiff wins the lawsuit, the court should return the plaintiff's litigation fees in the original way.
For example, on November 21, 2023, the Shaanxi Provincial High People's Court issued the Measures for the Management of Litigation Costs of the Shaanxi Provincial High People's Court (for Trial Implementation), which clarified that the court should refund the litigation fees of the winning plaintiff in the original way and the specific operation process, the Measures It has a weather vane and reference significance, provides a strong legal guarantee for other courts to refund fees, and greatly protects the legitimate rights and interests of the plaintiff.
Huashang Daily Gale News reporter Xie Tao editor Li Zhi
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