Zheng v. Zhuang, a private lending dispute
-- Where the evidence in the case can prove that the place of habitual residence is inconsistent with the place of household registration, the people's court for the place of habitual residence has jurisdiction
keyword
Civil Litigation Loan Contract Disputes Private Lending Habitual Residence General Territorial Jurisdiction
Basic facts of the case
Plaintiff Zheng claimed that he and defendant Zhuang were friends. The defendant Zhuang borrowed money from Zheng on the grounds that he needed funds for the construction of the plant, and Zheng lent Zhuang 800,000 yuan through bank transfer, cash delivery on the spot, etc., and the two parties agreed that the interest on the loan should be calculated at a monthly interest rate of 1.2%. After the loan expired, Zheng repeatedly asked Zhuang to return the loan, but Zhuang delayed again and again and did not repay the loan. Therefore, the court was requested to order Zhuang to repay the principal and interest of Zheng's loan.
During the defense, Zhuang raised objections to the jurisdiction. Zhuang believes that his habitual residence is in Sanxiang Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, and Zheng's habitual residence is in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, and that the Jiedong District People's Court of Jieyang City, Guangdong Province has no jurisdiction over this case, and requests that the case be transferred to the First People's Court of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province or the Xiangzhou District People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, for trial. On November 14, 2023, the Jiedong District People's Court of Jieyang City, Guangdong Province, rendered the (2023) Yue 5203 Min Chu No. 2577 Civil Ruling: rejecting the jurisdictional objection raised by the defendant Zhuang.
Zhuang appealed, and on December 25, 2023, the Intermediate People's Court of Jieyang City, Guangdong Province, rendered the (2023) Yue 52 Min Zhi Zhong No. 122 Civil Ruling: 1. Revoke the (2023) Yue 5203 Min Chu No. 2577 Civil Ruling of the Jiedong District People's Court of Jieyang City, Guangdong Province; 2. The case was transferred to the Xiangzhou District People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province for handling.
Grounds for the Trial
The effective judgment of the court held that this case was a private lending dispute. In this case, the parties did not agree on the place of performance of the contract, and Zheng filed a lawsuit with the court of first instance to request Zhuang to repay the loan, and the subject matter of the dispute was the payment currency, and Zheng, as the party receiving the currency, was located in the place where the contract was performed. Although Zheng's place of household registration is in Jiedong District, Jieyang City, evidence such as the "Inquiry Materials on Residence Registration Information of Floating Population in Guangdong Province" submitted by Zhuang during the second instance can prove that Zheng has lived continuously in Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai City since April 2019, and his habitual residence is in Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai City. According to the available evidence in this case, neither the defendant's domicile nor the place of contract performance are in Jiedong District, Jieyang City, and the court of first instance has no jurisdiction over this case. Zheng's habitual residence is in Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai City, and the People's Court of Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, as the people's court for the place where the contract is performed, has jurisdiction over this case in accordance with law. Therefore, it was decided to revoke the first-instance civil ruling and transfer the case to the Xiangzhou District People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province for handling.
Summary of the trial
A citizen's habitual residence refers to the place where the citizen has resided continuously for more than one year from the time of leaving the place of residence to the time of filing the lawsuit, except for the place where the citizen is hospitalized for medical treatment. Generally speaking, the place of household registration can be accurately obtained through the household registration book or the population information inquiry system of the public security organ, but the place of habitual residence is easy to become the focus of jurisdictional disputes in litigation due to the lack of fixed judgment or inquiry methods. When determining jurisdiction on the basis of the domicile of a party, if one party asserts that the place of household registration is inconsistent with the place of habitual residence and provides evidence of residence registration information such as a floating population residence registration information inquiry form issued by the competent authority, which can prove that the place is where the party has resided continuously for more than one year from the time of leaving the place of residence to the time of initiating the lawsuit, the people's court may determine the habitual residence on this basis.
Associate indexes
Article 25 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 24 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 18 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of > < Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (Fa Shi [2015] No. 5, amended in 2021).
First instance: Civil Ruling of Jiedong District People's Court of Jieyang City, Guangdong Province (2023) Yue 5203 Min Chu No. 2577 (November 14, 2023)
Second instance: Civil Ruling of Jieyang Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province (2023) Yue 52 Min Zhi Zhong No. 122 (December 25, 2023)