Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (2020 Amendment)
directory
1. Jurisdiction
2. Avoidance
3. Litigation participants
4. Evidence
V. Period and Service
6. Mediation
7. Preservation and prior enforcement
8. Compulsory measures against obstruction of civil litigation
9. Litigation costs
10. Ordinary procedures for first-instance trial
11. Summary Procedure
XII. Small Claims Litigation in Summary Procedures
13. Public interest litigation
14. Litigation for revocation by a third party
15. Litigation of objection to enforcement
XVI. Second-instance trial procedures
XVII. Special Procedures
XVIII. Trial Supervision Procedures
19. Supervision procedures
20. Procedures for public announcement and reminders
21. Enforcement Procedures
22. Special Provisions on Foreign-Related Civil Litigation Procedures
23. Supplementary Provisions
On August 31, 2012, the 28th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress deliberated and adopted the Decision on Amending the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. This interpretation is drafted on the basis of the revised Civil Procedure Law, combined with the actual conditions of the people's courts' civil trial and enforcement work.
1. Jurisdiction
Article 1: Major foreign-related cases as provided for in paragraph 1 of article 18 of the Civil Procedure Law, including cases where the subject matter of the dispute is large, cases where the facts of the case are complex, or cases with a large number of parties and other cases that have a major impact.
Article 2 Patent dispute cases shall be under the jurisdiction of the Intellectual Property Court, the Intermediate People's Court and the Basic People's Court as determined by the Supreme People's Court.
Admiralty and maritime cases are subject to the jurisdiction of the maritime courts.
Article 3: A citizen's domicile refers to the place where a citizen's household registration is located, and the domicile of a legal person or other organization refers to the location of the legal person's or other organization's main administrative office.
Where the location of the legal person's or other organization's principal office cannot be determined, the legal person's or other organization's place of registration or registration is the place of domicile.
Article 4: A citizen's habitual residence refers to a place where a citizen has resided continuously for more than one year from the time he leaves his or her domicile to the time of initiation, except for the place where the citizen is hospitalized for medical treatment.
Article 5: The people's court for the place where the defendant is registered has jurisdiction over litigation initiated by individual partnerships or partnership-type associations that do not have an administrative office. Where there is no registration and several defendants are not in the same jurisdiction, the people's court at the place where the defendants are domiciled has jurisdiction.
Article 6: Where the defendant's household registration has been cancelled, jurisdiction is to be determined in accordance with article 22 of the Civil Procedure Law; Where both the plaintiff and the defendant have their household registrations cancelled, the people's court for the defendant's place of residence has jurisdiction.
Article 7: Where parties have not yet settled down after moving out of their household registration, and have a habitual place of residence, the people's court for that place has jurisdiction; Where they do not have a habitual residence, the people's court for the place where their original household registration is located has jurisdiction.
Article 8: Where both parties are imprisoned or compulsory education measures are employed, the people's court for the defendant's original domicile has jurisdiction. Where the defendant has been imprisoned or has been subjected to compulsory educational measures for one year or more, the people's court for the place where the defendant is imprisoned or where compulsory educational measures are employed has jurisdiction.
Article 9: Where the domicile of several defendants in cases of recourse to alimony, child support, or alimony is not in the same jurisdictional area, the people's court for the plaintiff's domicile may have jurisdiction.
Article 10: In cases of dissatisfaction with the appointment of guardianship or modification of guardianship relationship, the people's court for the ward's domicile may have jurisdiction.
Article 11: Military courts have jurisdiction over civil cases where both parties are military personnel or military units.
Article 12: In cases where one spouse has been away from their domicile for more than one year, and the other party sues for divorce, the people's court for the plaintiff's domicile may have jurisdiction.
In cases where both husband and wife have been absent from their domicile for more than one year, and one party sues for divorce, the people's court for the defendant's habitual residence has jurisdiction; Where there is no habitual residence, the people's court for the defendant's place of residence at the time of the plaintiff's lawsuit has jurisdiction.
Article 13: For overseas Chinese who have married in China and settled abroad, if the court of the country of residence refuses to accept the divorce proceedings on the grounds that the court of the place where the marriage was concluded must have jurisdiction, and the parties file a divorce lawsuit with the people's court, the people's court of the place where the marriage was concluded or the last place of residence of one party in China shall have jurisdiction.
Article 14: If the court of the country of residence of an overseas Chinese who marries abroad and settles abroad refuses to accept the divorce proceedings on the grounds that the court of the country of nationality must have jurisdiction, and the parties file a divorce lawsuit with the people's court, the people's court of the original domicile of one of the parties or the last place of residence in China shall have jurisdiction.
Article 15: Where one of the Chinese citizens resides abroad and the other resides in China, the people's court for the domicile of one of the domestic citizens has jurisdiction over which party initiates divorce proceedings with the people's court. Where a foreign party files a lawsuit in the court of the country of residence, and the domestic party files a lawsuit in the people's court, the people's court to which the lawsuit is filed has jurisdiction.
Article 16: Where both Chinese citizens are abroad but have not settled down, and one party files a lawsuit for divorce with the people's court, the people's court for the original domicile of the plaintiff or defendant shall have jurisdiction.
Article 17: Where a divorced Chinese citizen has both parties residing abroad and only initiates litigation over the division of domestic property, the people's court for the place where the main property is located has jurisdiction.
Article 18 Where the contract stipulates the place of performance, the agreed place of performance shall be the place of performance of the contract.
If there is no agreement on the place of performance in the contract or the agreement is not clear, and the subject matter of the dispute is the payment currency, the place where the party receiving the currency is located is the place where the contract is performed; If the immovable property is delivered, the place where the immovable property is located is the place where the contract is performed; For other subject matter, the place where the party performing the obligation is located is the place where the contract is performed. For contracts that are settled immediately, the place where the transaction is performed is the place where the contract is performed.
Where the contract has not been actually performed, and the domicile of both parties is not in the place of performance agreed in the contract, the people's court at the place where the defendant is domiciled has jurisdiction.
Article 19 The property lease contract and financial lease contract shall be the place where the leased object is used as the place where the contract is performed. If there is an agreement on the place of performance in the contract, follow the agreement.
Article 20 Where a sales contract concluded by means of an information network is delivered through the information network, the place where the buyer is domiciled shall be the place of performance of the contract; If the subject matter is delivered by other means, the place of receipt shall be the place of performance of the contract. If there is an agreement on the place of performance in the contract, follow the agreement.
Article 21 In the case of a lawsuit arising from a dispute over a property insurance contract, if the subject matter of the insurance is a means of transport or goods in transit, the people's court at the place where the means of transport is registered, the destination of transport, and the place where the insured accident occurs may have jurisdiction.
Litigation arising from a dispute over a life insurance contract may be under the jurisdiction of the people's court at the place where the insured is domiciled.
Article 22 Jurisdiction over litigation arising from disputes such as records in the register of shareholders, requests for change of company registration, shareholders' right to know, company resolutions, company mergers, company divisions, company capital reductions, company capital increases, etc., shall be determined in accordance with article 26 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 23: Where a creditor applies for a payment order, the provisions of Article 21 of the Civil Procedure Law shall apply, and the basic people's court at the place where the debtor is domiciled shall have jurisdiction.
Article 24: The site of infringement as provided for in article 28 of the Civil Procedure Law includes the place where the infringement was carried out and the place where the results of the infringement occurred.
Article 25: The place where information network infringements are carried out includes the location of the computer or other information equipment that carried out the alleged infringing acts, and the place where the results of the infringement occur include the domicile of the infringed party.
Article 26: The people's courts for the place where the products are manufactured, the place where the products are sold, the place where the services are provided, the place where the infringement was conducted, and the place where the defendant is domiciled have jurisdiction over lawsuits brought against others due to substandard product or service quality causing injury to others' property or personhood.
Article 27: Litigation arising from losses caused to the respondent or interested parties by failing to file a lawsuit or apply for arbitration within the statutory period after applying for pre-litigation preservation shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court employing the preservation measures.
Where a party files a lawsuit or applies for arbitration within the statutory period after applying for pre-litigation preservation, and the respondent or interested party suffers losses due to the preservation, the people's court accepting the lawsuit or the people's court taking the preservation measures shall have jurisdiction.
Article 28: Real estate disputes as provided for in paragraph 1 of article 33 of the Civil Procedure Law refer to disputes over real rights arising from the confirmation of rights, division, adjacency of immovable property, and so forth.
Disputes over rural land contracting and operation contracts, housing lease contracts, construction contracts, and policy-based housing sales contracts shall be governed in accordance with real estate disputes.
Where immovable property has been registered, the location of the immovable property recorded in the immovable property register shall be the location of the immovable property; Where immovable property has not been registered, the actual location of the immovable property shall be the location of the immovable property.
Article 29: Written agreements provided for in article 34 of the Civil Procedure Law include clauses on agreed jurisdiction in written contracts or agreements on the choice of jurisdiction reached in writing before litigation.
Article 30: Where, on the basis of the jurisdiction agreement, the competent court can be determined at the time of initiation, follow its agreement; where it cannot be determined, jurisdiction is to be determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where the jurisdiction agreement stipulates the jurisdiction of two or more people's courts that have an actual connection with the dispute, the plaintiff may file a lawsuit with one of the people's courts.
Article 31: Where proprietors use standard clauses to conclude a jurisdiction agreement with consumers, but fail to employ reasonable methods to bring them to their attention, and consumers claim that the jurisdiction agreement is invalid, the people's courts shall support it.
Article 32: Where the jurisdiction agreement stipulates that the people's court for the domicile of one of the parties has jurisdiction, and where the domicile of the parties is changed after the agreement is signed, the people's court for the place of domicile at the time of signing the jurisdiction agreement has jurisdiction, except as otherwise agreed by the parties.
Article 33 Where a contract is transferred, the jurisdiction agreement of the contract shall be effective for the transferee of the contract, except where the transferee is not aware of the existence of a jurisdiction agreement at the time of transfer, or the transfer agreement is otherwise agreed upon and the original contract counterparty agrees.
Article 34: Where a property dispute arises between the parties due to cohabitation or after the dissolution of a marriage or adoption relationship, and they agree on jurisdiction, the provisions of article 34 of the Civil Procedure Law may be applied to determine jurisdiction.
Article 35: Where parties fail to respond to a lawsuit after the period for making a defense is completed, and the people's court discovers that the case is not within the jurisdiction of that court before the first-instance trial begins, it shall rule to transfer it to the people's court with jurisdiction.
Article 36: Where two or more people's courts have jurisdiction, the people's court that files the case first must not transfer the case to another people's court with jurisdiction. Where a people's court discovers before filing a case that another people's court with jurisdiction has already filed a case, it must not file the case repeatedly; Where, after case filing, it is discovered that another people's court with jurisdiction has already filed the case first, a ruling is to transfer the case to the people's court that filed the case first.
Article 37: After a case is accepted, the jurisdiction of the people's court receiving litigation is not affected by the change in the party's domicile or habitual residence.
Article 38: After a people's court with jurisdiction accepts a case, it must not transfer the case to the people's court with jurisdiction after the change on the grounds of a change in administrative region. Appeal cases after a judgment and cases brought to trial in accordance with the trial supervision procedures are to be tried by the people's court at the level above the original people's court; In cases where a higher level people's court orders a retrial or remand for new trial, the original people's court is to retry or retry the case.
Article 39: Where people's courts determine that they have jurisdiction after reviewing objections to jurisdiction, they are not to change jurisdiction because the parties raise counterclaims, add or modify litigation claims, and so forth, except where provisions on hierarchical jurisdiction or exclusive jurisdiction are violated.
In cases where the people's court remands for retrial or retrial in accordance with the first-instance trial procedures, where the parties raise objections to jurisdiction, the people's court will not review it.
Article 40: In accordance with paragraph 2 of article 37 of the Civil Procedure Law, where two people's courts where a dispute over jurisdiction arises due to failure to reach a negotiation and request that their common people's court at the level above them designate jurisdiction, and both parties are basic level people's courts belonging to the same prefecture or municipal district, the intermediate people's court of that prefecture or municipality is to promptly designate jurisdiction; Where two people's courts belong to the same province, autonomous region, or directly governed municipality, the high people's court of that province, autonomous region, or directly governed municipality is to promptly designate jurisdiction; Where the two parties are people's courts that cross provinces, autonomous regions, or directly governed municipalities, and the High People's Court fails to reach an agreement through negotiation, the Supreme People's Court is to promptly designate jurisdiction.
When reporting to a higher level people's court for designation of jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, it shall be conducted step by step.
Article 41: Where people's courts designate jurisdiction in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 37 of the Civil Procedure Law, they shall make a ruling.
In cases reported to a higher level people's court for designation of jurisdiction, the lower level people's court shall suspend trial. Where a lower people's court makes a judgment or ruling on a case before a ruling is made to designate jurisdiction, the higher people's court shall, at the same time as the ruling designating jurisdiction, revoke the judgment or ruling of the lower people's court.
Article 42: In the following first-instance civil cases, the people's courts may, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 38 of the Civil Procedure Law, transfer them to a lower people's court for trial before court begins:
(1) litigation cases involving the debtor in bankruptcy proceedings;
(2) Cases where there are a large number of parties and it is inconvenient for litigation to be litigated;
(3) Other types of cases as determined by the Supreme People's Court.
Before a people's court submits it to a lower people's court for trial, it shall report to the people's court at the level above for approval. After the higher level people's court approves, the people's court shall rule to transfer the case to the lower level people's court for trial.
2. Avoidance
Article 43: In any of the following circumstances, adjudicators shall recuse themselves, and parties have the right to apply for recusal:
(1) They are parties to the case or close relatives of the parties;
(2) The person or their close relatives have an interest in the case;
(3) Those who have served as witnesses, evaluators, defenders, agents ad litem, or translators in the case;
(4) They are close relatives of the agent ad litem in the case;
(5) The person or his close relatives hold the shares or equity of a party that is not a listed company in the case;
(6) They have other interests with the parties to the case or their agent ad litem, which might impact the fairness of the trial.
Article 44: In any of the following circumstances, the parties have the right to apply for their recusal:
(1) Accepting banquets from the parties to the case and their trustees, or participating in activities for which they pay for expenses;
(2) Soliciting or accepting property or other benefits from the parties to the case and their trustees;
(3) Violating provisions by meeting with parties to the case or agents ad litem;
(4) Recommending or introducing agents ad litem to parties to the case, or introducing lawyers or other persons to represent them in the case;
(5) Borrowing money or property from the parties to the case and their trustees;
(6) There are other improper conduct that might impact the fairness of the trial.
Article 45: Adjudicators who have participated in the trial of a case in one trial procedure must not participate in the trial of other procedures in that case.
In cases remanded for new trial, where the second-instance trial procedures are entered after the first-instance trial court has made a ruling, the composition of the collegial panel in the original second-instance trial procedures is not subject to the restrictions provided for in the preceding paragraph.
Article 46: Where adjudicators have circumstances that should be recused, but do not recuse themselves, and the parties have not applied for recusal, the court president or adjudication committee is to decide on their recusal.
Article 47: People's courts shall inform the parties in accordance with law that they have the right to apply for recusal against members of the collegial panel, single judges, clerks, and other such persons.
Article 48: "Adjudicators" as used in article 44 of the Civil Procedure Law includes the people's courts' presidents, vice-presidents, adjudication committee members, division heads, deputy division heads, adjudicators, assistant adjudicators, and people's assessors participating in the trial of this case.
Article 49: Relevant provisions on the recusal of adjudicators are to be applied to clerks and executives.
3. Litigation participants
Article 50: The legally-designated representative of a legal person is subject to lawful registration, except as otherwise provided by law. Where legal persons do not need to be registered in accordance with law, their principal responsible person is the legal representative; Where there is no principal responsible person, the deputy responsible person presiding over the work is the legally-designated representative.
Where the legally-designated representative has already been changed, but registration has not been completed, and the changed legally-designated representative requests to participate in the litigation on behalf of the legal person, the people's court may permit it.
other organizations, represented by their principal principals.
Article 51: Where the legal person's legally-designated representative is changed during litigation, the new legally-designated representative is to continue the litigation, and a new legally-designated representative's identity certificate shall be submitted to the people's court. The litigation conducted by the original legal representative is valid.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to litigation in which other organizations participate.
Article 52: Other organizations as provided for in article 48 of the Civil Procedure Law refer to organizations that are lawfully established and have a certain amount of organizational structure and assets, but do not have legal person status, including:
(1) Sole proprietorship enterprises registered and licensed for business licenses in accordance with law;
(2) Partnership enterprises that have registered and received business licenses in accordance with law;
(3) Chinese-foreign cooperative joint ventures and foreign-funded enterprises that have registered and obtained business licenses in accordance with the law;
(4) Branches and representative offices of lawfully established social groups;
(5) A branch of a legal person established in accordance with law and receiving a business license;
(6) Branches of commercial banks, policy banks and non-bank financial institutions established in accordance with law and having obtained business licenses;
(7) Township enterprises and neighborhood enterprises that have been registered and received business licenses in accordance with law;
(8) Other organizations that meet the requirements of this article.
Article 53: Where a legal person is not a branch established in accordance with law, or where a branch has been established in accordance with law but has not received a business license, the legal person that established the branch is to be the party.
Article 54: Where civil activities are engaged in in the form of affiliation, and the parties request that the affiliated and affiliated persons bear civil liability in accordance with law, the affiliated persons and the affiliated persons are joint litigants.
Article 55: Where one party dies in litigation and it is necessary to wait for the heirs to indicate whether they will participate in the litigation, a ruling is made to suspend the litigation. The people's court shall promptly notify the heirs to undertake the litigation as a party, and the litigation conduct that the decedent has already carried out is effective for the heirs who bear the litigation.
Article 56: Where the performance of work tasks by staff of legal persons or other organizations causes harm to others, that legal person or other organization is the party.
Article 57: Where the party providing labor services causes harm to others as a result of the labor services, and the victim initiates a lawsuit, the party receiving the services is the defendant.
Article 58 During the period of labor dispatch, if the dispatched staff member causes harm to others due to the performance of work tasks, the employing unit receiving the labor dispatch shall be the party. Where a party claims that the labor dispatch unit is liable, the labor dispatch unit is a co-defendant.
Article 59: In litigation, the business operators registered on the business license are the parties. If there is a trade name, the trade name registered on the business license shall be the party, but the basic information of the business operator shall be indicated at the same time.
Where the business operators registered on the business license are inconsistent with the actual business operators, the registered business operators and the actual business operators are joint litigants.
Article 60: In litigation, all partners of an individual partnership that has not lawfully registered to obtain a business license are joint litigants. If an individual partnership has a trade name that has been approved and registered in accordance with law, the registered trade name shall be indicated in the legal documents. All partners may elect representatives; The elected representative shall be nominated by all partners.
Article 61: Where a dispute between the parties reaches an agreement through mediation by the people's mediation committee, and one party does not perform on the mediation agreement, and the other party initiates a lawsuit in the people's court, the other party shall be the defendant.
Article 62: In the following circumstances, the actor is a party:
(1) Where a legal person or other organization should be registered but fails to do so, the actor conducts civil activities in the name of that legal person or other organization;
(2) The actor does not have the power of agency, exceeds the power of agency, or conducts civil activities in the name of the principal after the power of agency is terminated, except where the counterpart has reason to believe that the actor has the power of agency;
(3) After the legal person or other organization is terminated in accordance with law, the actor is still carrying out civil activities in its name.
Article 63: Where enterprise legal persons are merged, disputes arising from civil activities before the merger are to be party to disputes arising from the merger's civil activities; In the case of the division of an enterprise legal person, the enterprise after the division shall be the joint litigant in the case of disputes arising from civil activities before the division.
Article 64: Where an enterprise legal person is dissolved, the enterprise legal person is to be a party before it is liquidated and deregistered in accordance with law; Where it is deregistered without liquidation in accordance with law, the shareholders, founders or investors of the enterprise legal person shall be the parties.
Article 65: Where a letter of introduction, a special contract seal, a blank contract with a seal, or a bank account is borrowed, the lending unit and the borrower are joint litigants.
Article 66: Where a creditor claims rights against both the guarantor and the guaranteed person in a lawsuit arising from a guarantee contract dispute, the people's court shall list the guarantor and the guaranteed person as co-defendants. Where the guarantee contract stipulates that it is a general guarantee, and the creditor only sues the guarantor, the people's court shall notify the guaranteed party to participate in the litigation as a co-defendant; Where the creditor only sues the guarantor, it may only list the guarantor as the defendant.
Article 67: Where persons without or limited capacity for civil conduct cause harm to others, the persons without or limited capacity for civil conduct and their guardians are co-defendants.
Article 68: Where a residents' committee, villagers' committee, or villagers' group has a civil dispute with others, the residents' committee, villagers' committee, or villagers' group with independent property is the party.
Article 69: Where litigation is initiated against conduct that infringes on the deceased's remains or bones, as well as their name, likeness, reputation, honor, privacy, or so forth, the deceased's close relatives are the parties.
Article 70: Where some of the heirs sue in inheritance litigation, the people's court shall notify the other heirs to participate in the litigation as joint plaintiffs; Where the notified heirs are unwilling to participate in the litigation and have not expressly waived their substantive rights, the people's court should still list them as co-plaintiffs.
Article 71: Where the plaintiff sues the principal and the agent, demanding joint and several liability, the principal and the agent are joint defendants.
Where the plaintiff sues the agent and the counterparty and demands joint and several liability, the agent and the counterparty are co-defendants.
Article 72: Where common property rights are infringed upon by others, and some of the co-owners file a lawsuit, the other co-owners are joint litigants.
Article 73: Where parties who must jointly conduct litigation do not participate in the litigation, the people's courts shall notify them to participate in accordance with article 132 of the Civil Procedure Law; The parties may also apply to the people's court for addition. The people's court shall conduct a review of the application submitted by the parties, and where the reasons for the application are not sustained, rule to reject it; Where the reasons for the application are sustained, the party to be added is to be notified in writing to participate in the litigation.
Article 74: When people's courts add parties to a joint litigation, they shall notify the other parties. Where the plaintiff that should be added has clearly expressed its waiver of substantive rights, it may not be added; Those who are unwilling to participate in the litigation and do not waive their substantive rights should still be added as co-plaintiffs, and their non-participation in the litigation does not affect the people's court's trial of the case and making a judgment in accordance with law.
Article 75: Where the number of people provided for in articles 53, 54, and 199 of the Civil Procedure Law is large, it generally refers to 10 or more people.
Article 76: In accordance with article 53 of the Civil Procedure Law, where the number of parties is large and determined at the time of initiating a lawsuit, all parties may elect a common representative, and some of the parties may also elect their own representatives; Parties who cannot elect a representative may participate in the litigation themselves in the necessary joint litigation, and may file a separate lawsuit in the ordinary joint litigation.
Article 77: On the basis of article 54 of the Civil Procedure Law, where the number of parties is large and uncertain at the time of initiating a lawsuit, the parties are to select a representative. Where the parties are unable to elect them, the people's court may propose a candidate to negotiate with the parties; Where negotiation fails, the people's court may also appoint a representative among the parties to the lawsuit.
Article 78: The number of representatives provided for in articles 53 and 54 of the Civil Procedure Law is 2-5, and each representative may retain one or two persons as agents ad litem.
Article 79: In cases accepted in accordance with article 54 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's courts may issue a public announcement notifying the rights holders to register with the people's courts. The period for public notice is to be determined on the basis of the specific circumstances of the case, but must not be less than 30 days.
Article 80: Rights holders registered with the people's courts in accordance with article 54 of the Civil Procedure Law shall prove their legal relationship with the opposing party and the harm they have suffered. If it cannot be proved, it will not be registered, and the right holder may file a separate lawsuit. The judgments of the people's courts are to be enforced within the scope of registration. Where a rights holder who has not participated in the registration initiates a lawsuit, and the people's court finds that his request is sustained, it shall rule to apply the judgment or ruling already made by the people's court.
Article 81: On the basis of article 56 of the Civil Procedure Law, third parties with independent claims have the right to submit litigation claims, facts and reasons to the people's courts, and become parties; Third parties who do not have the right to make an independent claim may apply or be notified by the people's court to participate in the litigation.
Where a third party who did not participate in the first-instance trial procedures applies to participate in the second-instance trial procedures, the people's court may permit it.
Article 82: In first-instance litigation, third parties who do not have the right to make an independent claim do not have the right to raise jurisdictional objections, have no right to abandon or modify litigation claims, or apply to withdraw the lawsuit, and where they are judged to bear civil liability, they have the right to raise an appeal.
Article 83: In litigation, the guardian of a person who lacks or has limited capacity for civil conduct is his legally-designated representative. Where a guardian has not been determined in advance, it may be determined through consultation by persons with guardianship qualifications; Where negotiation fails, the people's court is to appoint a legally-designated representative in the litigation among them. Where parties do not have a guardian as provided for in articles 27 and 28 of the Civil Code, they may designate the relevant organizations provided for in article 32 of the Civil Code to serve as their legally-designated representative in the litigation.
Article 84: Where persons who lack or have limited capacity for civil conduct, as well as others who cannot serve as agents ad litem in accordance with law, the parties must not retain them to serve as agents ad litem.
Article 85: On the basis of item (2) of paragraph 2 of article 58 of the Civil Procedure Law, relatives with whom a party has a husband and wife, direct blood relative, collateral blood relative within three generations, close relatives by marriage, or other relatives who have a relationship of support or support, may serve as an agent ad litem in the name of the party's close relative.
Article 86: On the basis of item 2 of paragraph 2 of article 58 of the Civil Procedure Law, employees who have a lawful labor and personnel relationship with a party may serve as an agent ad litem in the name of the party's staff.
Article 87: On the basis of item (3) of paragraph 2 of article 58 of the Civil Procedure Law, where relevant social groups recommend citizens to serve as agents ad litem, they shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Social Groups are non-profit legal person organizations that have been registered and established in accordance with law or that have been exempted from registration in accordance with law;
(2) The principal is a member of the Social Group, or one of the parties is domiciled in the area where the Social Group is active;
(3) Agency affairs are within the scope of operations provided for in the social group's charter;
(4) The recommended citizen is the responsible person of the social group or a staff member who has a legal labor relationship with the social group.
Upon recommendation by the All-China Patent Attorneys Association, a patent attorney may act as an agent ad litem in a patent dispute case.
Article 88: In addition to submitting a power of attorney in accordance with article 59 of the Civil Procedure Law, agents ad litem shall also submit relevant materials to the people's courts in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) Lawyers shall submit lawyers' practice certificates and law firm certification materials;
(2) Basic-level legal service workers shall submit legal service workers' practice certificates, letters of introduction issued by basic-level legal services, and materials proving that one of the parties is located in that jurisdiction;
(3) The close relatives of the parties shall submit their identity documents and materials proving that they have a close family relationship with the client;
(4) The staff of the party shall submit their identity documents and proof of having a lawful labor and personnel relationship with the party;
(5) Citizens recommended by the community or unit where the party is located shall submit their identity documents, recommendation materials, and materials proving that the party belongs to that community or unit;
(6) Citizens recommended by relevant social groups shall submit their identity documents and supporting materials that meet the requirements provided for in article 87 of this interpretation.
Article 89: Power of attorney submitted by parties to the people's court shall be sent to the people's court before in-court proceedings begin. Where the power of attorney only states "full agency" without specific authorization, the agent ad litem does not have the right to admit, waive, or modify the litigation claim, settle the claim, file a counterclaim, or file an appeal on behalf of the agent.
In cases applying the simplified procedures, where both parties appear in court at the same time and hold in-court proceedings, an agent ad litem may be orally retained on the spot, and the people's court is to record it in the record.
4. Evidence
Article 90: Parties shall provide evidence to prove the facts on which their own litigation claims are based or on which they refute the other party's litigation claims, except as otherwise provided by law.
Where a party fails to provide evidence or the evidence is insufficient to prove its factual assertion before a judgment is rendered, the party who bears the burden of proof shall bear the adverse consequences.
Article 91: People's courts shall follow the following principles to determine the burden of presenting evidence, except as otherwise provided by law:
(1) The party asserting the existence of a legal relationship shall bear the burden of proof on the basic facts that gave rise to the legal relationship;
(2) A party claiming that a legal relationship has been modified or extinguished or that its rights have been obstructed shall bear the burden of proof to prove the basic facts of the modification or extinction of the legal relationship or the obstruction of rights.
Article 92: Where one party clearly acknowledges facts that are unfavorable to it during the court trial, or in written materials such as the complaint, reply, or representation, the other party does not need to present evidence.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph on self-recognition do not apply to facts that should be investigated by the people's courts ex officio involving identity relationships, national interests, societal public interests, and other facts that should be investigated ex officio.
Where the facts admitted are inconsistent with the ascertained facts, the people's courts are not to confirm them.
Article 93: The parties are not required to present evidence to prove the following facts:
(1) The laws of nature, as well as theorems and laws;
(2) well-known facts;
(3) Facts presumed in accordance with legal provisions;
(4) another fact inferred from known facts and the rules of daily life experience;
(5) Facts that have already been confirmed by a legally effective judgment of the people's court;
(6) the facts that have been confirmed by the effective award of the arbitration institution;
(7) Facts that have been proved by valid notarized documents.
Except for the facts provided for in items (2) through (4) of the preceding paragraph, where the parties have evidence to the contrary sufficient to refute them; Except for the facts provided for in items 5 through 7, where the parties have evidence to the contrary that is sufficient to overturn them.
Article 94: Evidence provided for in paragraph 2 of article 64 of the Civil Procedure Law that parties and their agents ad litem cannot collect on their own for objective reasons includes:
(1) The evidence is stored by the relevant state departments, and the parties and their agents ad litem do not have the right to read and collect it;
(2) Involving state secrets, commercial secrets, or personal privacy;
(3) Other evidence that the parties and their agents ad litem cannot collect on their own for objective reasons.
Where parties and their agents ad litem are unable to collect evidence on their own for objective reasons, they may apply in writing to the people's court for investigation and collection before the time limit for presenting evidence is completed.
Article 95: Where a party's application for investigation and collection of evidence is not related to the facts to be proven, is meaningless to prove the facts to be proven, or is otherwise not necessary for investigation and collection, the people's courts will not permit it.
Article 96: The evidence that the people's courts find necessary for the trial of a case as provided for in paragraph 2 of article 64 of the Civil Procedure Law includes:
(1) It involves matters that might harm the national interest or societal public interest;
(2) Where identity relationships are involved;
(3) Involving litigation as provided for in article 55 of the Civil Procedure Law;
(4) The parties have the possibility of maliciously colluding to harm the lawful rights and interests of others;
(5) Procedural matters such as adding parties ex officio, suspending litigation, terminating litigation, or recusal.
Except as provided in the preceding paragraph, people's courts investigating and collecting evidence shall do so in accordance with the parties' applications.
Article 97: People's courts' investigation and collection of evidence shall be conducted jointly by two or more persons. Investigation materials should be signed, stamped, or sealed by the investigator, the person being investigated, or the person recording the case.
Article 98: Where parties apply for evidence preservation in accordance with the first paragraph of article 81 of the Civil Procedure Law, they may submit it in writing before the time limit for presenting evidence is completed.
Where the preservation of evidence might cause harm to others, the people's court shall order the applicant to provide corresponding guarantees.
Article 99: The people's courts shall determine the time limit for the parties to present evidence during the preparatory phase before trial. The time limit for presenting evidence may be negotiated by the parties and approved by the people's court.
The people's courts determine the time limit for the presentation of evidence, and it must not be less than 15 days for first-instance ordinary procedure cases, and must not be less than 10 days for second-instance cases where parties provide new evidence.
After the time limit for the presentation of evidence is completed, where a party applies to provide rebuttal evidence or to supplement and correct flaws in the source or form of the evidence, the people's court may determine the time limit for the presentation of evidence again at its discretion, and the time limit is not subject to the restrictions provided in the preceding paragraph.
Article 100: Where parties apply for an extension of the time limit for the presentation of evidence, they shall submit a written application to the people's court before the period for the presentation of evidence is completed.
Where the reasons for the application are sustained, the people's court shall permit it, appropriately extend the time limit for presenting evidence, and notify the other parties. The extended time limit for the presentation of evidence applies to the other parties.
Where the reasons for the application are not sustained, the people's court shall not approve it and notify the applicant.
Article 101:Where parties fail to provide evidence within the time limit, the people's court shall order them to explain the reasons, and when necessary, may request that they provide corresponding evidence.
Where a party fails to provide evidence within the time limit due to objective reasons, or the opposing party does not raise an objection to the late provision of evidence, it is deemed that it has not expired.
Article 102:The people's courts are not to accept evidence provided by parties within the time limit due to intentional or gross negligence. However, where the evidence is related to the basic facts of the case, the people's court shall accept it and give a reprimand and fine in accordance with the provisions of article 65 and paragraph 1 of article 115 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where the parties do not intentionally or grossly negligently provide evidence within the time limit, the people's courts shall accept it and admonish the parties.
Where one party requests that the other party compensate for the additional necessary expenses such as transportation, lodging, meals, lost work, and witnesses appearing in court to testify due to the late provision of evidence, the people's court may support it.
Article 103: Evidence shall be presented in court, and the parties are to debate each other. Evidence that has not been debated by the parties must not be used as the basis for determining the facts of the case.
Evidence accepted by the parties during the preparatory phase before trial is to be viewed as evidence that has been debated after being explained by the adjudicators at trial.
Evidence involving state secrets, commercial secrets, personal privacy, or that shall be kept confidential by law must not be publicly debated.
Article 104:People's courts shall organize parties to debate evidence on the veracity and legality of the evidence, as well as its relevance to the facts to be proven, and explain and debate whether the evidence has probative force and how much probative force it has.
Evidence that can reflect the true circumstances of the case, is related to the facts to be proven, and whose sources and forms comply with the provisions of law, shall be the basis for determining the facts of the case.
Article 105:People's courts shall follow legally-prescribed procedures to comprehensively and objectively review evidence, and in accordance with legal provisions, use logical reasoning and rules of daily life experience to make judgments on whether evidence has probative force and how much probative force it has, and disclose the reasons and results for the judgment.
Article 106:Evidence formed or obtained through methods that seriously infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of others, violate prohibitive provisions of law, or seriously violate public order and good customs, must not be used as the basis for determining the facts of a case.
Article 107:In litigation, facts recognized by the parties for the purpose of reaching a mediation agreement or compromise in a settlement agreement must not be used as a basis against them in subsequent litigation, except as otherwise provided by law or with the consent of the parties.
Article 108:Where, upon review and consideration of the relevant facts, the people's court is convinced that there is a high probability of the existence of the facts to be proved, the people's court shall find that the facts exist.
Where, upon review and consideration of the relevant facts, the people's court finds that the truth or falsity of the facts to be proved is unclear after reviewing the evidence provided by one party to refute the facts asserted by the party who bears the burden of proof, it shall find that the facts do not exist.
Where the law has other provisions on the standard of proof that should be met for the facts to be proven, follow those provisions.
Article 109:Where the people's courts are convinced that the possibility of the existence of the facts to be proved can be eliminated beyond reasonable doubt, the people's courts shall find that the facts exist where the facts of fraud, coercion, or malicious collusion, as well as the proof of the facts of oral wills or gifts, can be eliminated beyond reasonable doubt.
Article 110:Where people's courts find it necessary, they may request that the parties appear in court to be questioned about the relevant facts of the case. The parties may be asked to sign a letter of guarantee before they are questioned.
The letter of guarantee shall clearly state the truthful statement and the willingness to accept punishment if there is a false statement. The parties shall sign or seal the guarantee.
Where the party who bears the burden of proof refuses to appear in court, refuses to be questioned, or refuses to sign a written guarantee, and the facts to be proved lack other evidence to prove them, the people's court will not find the facts asserted.
Article 111:There are genuine difficulties in submitting original documentary evidence as provided for in article 70 of the Civil Procedure Law, including the following circumstances:
(1) The original documentary evidence is lost, destroyed, or damaged;
(2) The original is under the control of the other party and is submitted after being lawfully notified but refuses to be submitted;
(3) The original is under the control of another person, and they have the right not to submit it;
(4) The original is inconvenient to submit due to excessive length or size;
(5) The party who bears the burden of presenting evidence is unable to obtain the original documentary evidence through an application to the people's court for investigation and collection or other means.
In the circumstances provided for in the preceding paragraph, the people's courts shall consider other evidence and the specific circumstances of the case to review and judge whether copies of documentary evidence can be used as the basis for determining the facts of the case.
Article 112:Where documentary evidence is under the control of the opposing party, the party bearing the burden of proof may apply in writing to the people's court to order the opposing party to submit it before the time limit for presenting evidence is completed.
Where the reasons for the application are sustained, the people's court shall order the opposing party to submit it, and the applicant shall bear the costs incurred in submitting documentary evidence. Where the opposing party refuses to submit it without a legitimate reason, the people's court may find that the content of the documentary evidence asserted by the applicant is true.
Article 113:Where a party in possession of documentary evidence destroys the relevant documentary evidence or commits other conduct that makes the documentary evidence unusable, for the purpose of obstructing the other party's use, the people's court may impose a fine or detention on them in accordance with article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 114:Matters recorded in documents drafted within the scope of the scope of their authority by state organs or other organizations with social management functions in accordance with law are presumed to be true, except where there is evidence to the contrary that is sufficient to overturn them. When necessary, the people's court may request that the organ or organization that drafted the document explain the authenticity of the document.
Article 115:The supporting materials submitted by a unit to the people's court shall be signed or sealed by the responsible person for the unit and the person who produced the supporting materials, and the unit's seal shall be affixed. The people's courts may conduct an investigation and verification of the certification materials issued by the unit and the personnel who produced the supporting materials. When necessary, the person who produced the evidentiary materials may be required to appear in court to testify.
Where the unit and the person making the supporting materials refuse to be investigated and verified by the people's court, or the person who produced the supporting materials refuses to appear in court to testify without a legitimate reason, the supporting materials must not be used as the basis for determining the facts of the case.
Article 116: Audiovisual materials include audio and video materials.
Electronic data refers to information formed or stored in electronic media through e-mail, electronic data interchange, online chat records, blogs, microblogs, mobile phone text messages, electronic signatures, domain names, etc.
The provisions on electronic data shall apply to audio and video materials stored in electronic media.
Article 117:Where parties apply for witnesses to appear in court to testify, they shall do so before the time limit for presenting evidence is completed.
Where the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1 of article 96 of this interpretation are met, the people's courts may notify witnesses to appear in court to testify in accordance with their authority.
Witnesses must not appear in court to testify without notice from the people's court, except with the consent of both parties and with the permission of the people's court.
Article 118:Necessary expenses such as transportation, lodging, and meals incurred by witnesses as provided for in article 74 of the Civil Procedure Law for performing their obligation to appear in court to testify are to be calculated in accordance with the travel expenses and subsidy standards for the staff of government organs and public institutions; The loss of lost work shall be calculated according to the national average daily wage standard of employees in the previous year.
Where a people's court permits an application for a witness to appear in court to testify, it shall notify the applicant to prepay the witness's fee for appearing in court to testify.
Article 119:Before witnesses appear in court to testify, people's courts shall inform them of their obligation to testify truthfully and the legal consequences of perjury, and order them to sign a written guarantee, except for those who lack or have limited capacity for civil conduct.
The provisions of this Interpretation on the signing of a guarantee by a witness shall apply to the signing of a letter of guarantee by a party.
Article 120:Where witnesses refuse to sign a written guarantee, they must not testify and bear the relevant costs.
Article 121:Parties applying for an evaluation may submit it before the time limit for presenting evidence is completed. Where the matters applied for evaluation are not related to the facts to be proven, or are meaningless to prove the facts to be proven, the people's court will not approve it.
Where people's courts permit a party's application for an evaluation, they shall organize both parties to negotiate to determine an evaluator with the corresponding qualifications. Where the parties fail to reach an agreement through negotiation, the people's court is to appoint them.
Where the requirements for investigating and gathering evidence in accordance with their authority are met, the people's courts shall retain an evaluation in accordance with their authority, and after asking the parties' opinions, designate an evaluator with corresponding qualifications.
Article 122:In accordance with article 79 of the Civil Procedure Law, parties may apply for one or two persons with specialized knowledge to appear in court before the time limit for presenting evidence is completed, to debate evaluation opinions on behalf of the parties, or to submit opinions on professional issues involved in the facts of the case.
Opinions on professional issues made in court by persons with specialized knowledge are considered to be statements of the parties.
Where the people's court permits a party's application, the relevant costs are to be borne by the party submitting the application.
Article 123:People's courts may question persons with specialized knowledge appearing in court. With the permission of the court, the parties may question persons with specialized knowledge who appear in court, and the persons with specialized knowledge applied by the parties may confront the relevant issues in the case.
Persons with specialized knowledge are not allowed to participate in court proceedings outside of specialized issues.
Article 124:Where people's courts find it necessary, they may conduct an inquest of physical evidence or the scene on the basis of the parties' application or ex officio. The privacy and dignity of others shall be protected during the inquest.
The people's court may require the evaluator to participate in the inquest. When necessary, evaluators may be required to conduct an appraisal during the inquest.
V. Period and Service
Article 125:In accordance with paragraph 2 of article 82 of the Civil Procedure Law, the period in civil litigation that is calculated from the time is from the next time; Periods calculated in days, months, and years are counted from the next day.
Article 126:Where the time limit for filing a case as provided for in article 123 of the Civil Procedure Law is to notify the plaintiff to supplement and correct due to the lack of content in the complaint, it is calculated from the day after it is submitted to the people's court after the supplement and correction. Cases transferred by a higher level people's court to a lower level people's court for filing are counted from the day after the people's court receiving the lawsuit receives the complaint.
Article 127:The six months provided for in paragraphs 3 and 205 of article 56 of the Civil Procedure Law, as well as articles 374, 384, 401, 422, and 423 of this interpretation, and the one year provided for in article 223 of the Civil Procedure Law, are unchanged periods, and the provisions on the suspension, interruption, or extension of the statute of limitations do not apply.
Article 128:Where retrial cases are tried in accordance with the first-instance or second-instance trial procedures, the trial time limits provided for in articles 149 and 176 of the Civil Procedure Law apply. The time limit for trial is calculated from the day after the retrial is filed.
Article 129:In cases where an application for retrial is made, the people's court shall complete the review within 3 months of accepting it, but the period for public announcement, the period for parties to settle, and so forth, is not included in the period for review. Where there are special circumstances that require an extension, it is to be approved by the president of that court.
Article 130:The delivery of litigation documents to legal persons or other organizations shall be signed or sealed by the legal person's legally-designated representative, the organization's principal responsible person, or the person responsible for receiving the documents such as the office, mailroom, or duty room, and where they refuse to sign or affix a seal, service in retention in custody applies.
The representatives of the relevant basic-level organizations and units as provided for in article 86 of the Civil Procedure Law may be the staff of the residents' committee or villagers' committee for the place where the recipient is domiciled, as well as the staff of the unit to which the recipient belongs.
Article 131:Where people's courts directly serve litigation documents, they may notify the parties to collect them at the people's courts. Where a party arrives at the people's court and refuses to sign a receipt of service, it is deemed to have been served. Adjudicators and clerks shall note the circumstances of service and sign on the proof of service.
The people's courts may directly serve litigation documents on the parties outside the place where the parties are domiciled. Where the parties refuse to sign the proof of service, the process of service shall be recorded by means such as taking photographs or videos, and it shall be deemed to have been served. Adjudicators and clerks shall note the circumstances of service and sign on the proof of service.
Article 132:Where the person to be served has an agent ad litem, the people's court may serve it both to the person to be served and to their agent ad litem. Where the person to be served designates an agent ad litem as the person receiving the service, service by retention in custody applies when service is made to the agent ad litem.
Article 133: The mediation document shall be directly served on the parties themselves, and service by retention in custody is not applicable. If the party itself is unable to sign for the receipt for any reason, the person designated by the party may sign for the receipt.
Article 134:Where in accordance with article 88 of the Civil Procedure Law, another people's court is entrusted to serve on their behalf, the entrusting court shall issue a letter of entrustment and attach the litigation documents that need to be served and proof of service, and the date on which the recipient signs on the receipt of service is the date of service.
Where service is entrusted, the entrusted people's court shall serve it on its behalf within 10 days of receiving the letter of entrustment and relevant litigation documents.
Article 135: Electronic service may use specific systems such as fax, e-mail, and mobile communications as the medium of service.
The date of arrival at the recipient's specific system as provided for in paragraph 2 of article 87 of the Civil Procedure Law is the date on which the people's court's corresponding system shows that the delivery was successful, but where the date on which the recipient proves that it arrived at its specific system is inconsistent with the date on which the people's court's corresponding system shows that the delivery was successful, the date on which the recipient proves that it arrived at its specific system is controlling.
Article 136:Where the recipient consents to electronic service, it shall be confirmed in the confirmation of the address for service.
Article 137:Where parties do not change the address for service in writing when they raise an appeal, apply for retrial, or apply for enforcement, the address for service confirmed in the first-instance trial procedures may be the address for service in the second-instance trial procedures, trial supervision procedures, or enforcement procedures.
Article 138:Public notice service may be served by posting a notice on the court's bulletin board or at the recipient's residence, and may also be published in newspapers, information networks, and other media, and the date of issuance of the announcement is the date on which it was last posted or published. Where there are special requirements for the method of service of public notices, it shall be carried out in accordance with the required methods. Upon the expiration of the notice period, it shall be deemed to have been served.
Where people's courts post notices at the addressee's residence, they shall employ methods such as taking photographs or videos to record the posting process.
Article 139: The reasons for the service of the announcement shall be explained; Where a copy of the complaint or appeal is served by public announcement, the main points of the complaint or appeal shall be explained, the time limit for the recipient to respond, and the legal consequences of not responding within the time limit; When announcing the service of a summons, the time and place of appearing in court and the legal consequences of not appearing in court within the time limit shall be explained; Where public announcements are made to serve judgments or rulings, the main content of the judgment shall be explained, and where the parties have the right to appeal, the right to appeal, the time limit for appeal, and the people's court appealing shall also be explained.
Article 140:In cases applying the simplified procedures, service by public notice is not applicable.
Article 141:Where a party refuses to sign or receive a judgment or ruling when a people's court periodically announces a judgment, it shall be viewed as service and noted in the judgment announcement record.
6. Mediation
Article 142:After a people's court accepts a case, upon review, finds that the legal relationship is clear and the facts are clear, it may conduct mediation after obtaining the consent of both parties.
Article 143:Mediation must not be conducted in cases applying special procedures, urging procedures, or public announcement procedures, in cases where marriage or other identity relationships are confirmed, and in other cases where mediation cannot be conducted based on the nature of the case.
Article 144:Where people's courts hearing civil cases discover that parties maliciously collude with each other in an attempt to infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of others through conciliation or mediation, they shall handle it in accordance with article 112 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 145:People's courts hearing civil cases shall conduct mediation on the basis of the principles of voluntariness and legality. Where one or both parties insist on their unwillingness to mediate, a judgment shall be made in a timely manner.
People's courts hearing divorce cases shall conduct mediation, but should not remain indecisive for a long time.
Article 146:People's courts hearing civil cases are not open to the public during the mediation process, except where the parties agree to do so.
The content of the mediation agreement is not to be disclosed, except where the people's court finds it truly necessary to disclose it in order to protect the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others.
Persons presiding over mediation and participating in mediation shall keep confidential state secrets, commercial secrets, personal privacy, and other information that is not suitable for disclosure learned during the mediation process, except for the protection of national interests, societal public interests, or the lawful rights and interests of others.
Article 147:When people's courts mediate a case, where the parties are unable to appear in court, upon their special authorization, they may retain an agent to participate in the mediation, and the mediation agreement reached may be signed by the entrusted agent.
Where parties to a divorce case are truly unable to appear in court to participate in mediation due to special circumstances, they shall issue a written opinion unless they are unable to express their will.
Article 148:Where after the parties reach an agreement through reconciliation or mediation, request that the people's court draft a judgment in accordance with the content of the settlement agreement or mediation agreement, the people's court will not permit it.
In divorce cases involving persons who lack capacity for civil conduct, litigation shall be conducted by their legal representatives. Where the legally-designated representative reaches an agreement with the other party and requests that a judgment be issued, a judgment may be drafted on the basis of the content of the agreement.
Article 149:Where a mediation document must be signed by the parties before it takes legal effect, the effective date of the mediation document shall be the date on which the party who last received the mediation document signs for it.
Article 150:Where people's courts mediate civil cases and need a third party who does not have the right to make an independent claim to bear responsibility, it shall do so with their consent. Where the third party repents before the mediation document is served, the people's court shall promptly make a ruling.
Article 151:On the basis of item (4) of paragraph 1 of article 98 of the Civil Procedure Law, where the parties agree that a mediation agreement takes legal effect after it is signed or sealed, it shall be recorded in the record or attached to the case file after the people's court reviews and confirms, and it becomes legally effective after it is signed or sealed by the parties, adjudicators, or clerks.
In the circumstances provided for in the preceding paragraph, where the parties request the drafting of a mediation document, the people's court may draft a mediation document and send it to the parties after review and confirmation. If the parties refuse to accept the mediation agreement, the validity of the mediation agreement shall not be affected.
7. Preservation and prior enforcement
Article 152:Where people's courts, in accordance with articles 100 and 101 of the Civil Procedure Law, order interested parties or parties to provide guarantees when employing pre-litigation preservation or litigation preservation measures, they shall give written notice.
Where interested parties apply for pre-litigation preservation, they shall provide a guarantee. Where an application is made for pre-litigation property preservation, a guarantee equivalent to the amount requested for preservation shall be provided; Where there are special circumstances, the people's courts may handle it at their discretion. Where an application is made for pre-trial act preservation, the amount of security is to be determined by the people's court on the basis of the specific circumstances of the case.
In litigation, where the people's court adopts preservation measures upon application or ex officio, it shall, on the basis of the specific circumstances of the case, decide whether the parties should provide security and the amount of the guarantee.
Article 153: When people's courts employ preservation measures against seasonal commodities, fresh, perishable, or other items that are not suitable for long-term storage, they may order the parties to promptly dispose of them, and the people's courts are to keep the price; When necessary, the people's court may sell it and keep the price.
Article 154:When people's courts employ measures to seal, seize, or freeze assets in the course of property preservation, they shall properly keep the sealed, seized, or frozen assets. where it is not suitable for the people's court to keep it, the people's court may designate the person subject to preservation to be responsible for safekeeping; Where it is not appropriate for the person being preserved to keep it, it may be entrusted to another person or the person applying for preservation for safekeeping.
The sealing, seizure, or freezing of the secured property in the possession of the security interest holder is generally kept by the security interest holder; Where it is kept by a people's court, the pledge or lien is not extinguished by the adoption of preservation measures.
Article 155:If the continued use of property designated by the people's court for the custody of the person subject to preservation does not have a major impact on the value of the property, the person subject to preservation may be allowed to continue to use it; The people's courts and other custodians must not use property that is in the custody of the people's courts, or that is entrusted to another person or the person applying for preservation.
Article 156:People's courts employing methods and measures for property preservation are to handle it in accordance with the relevant provisions of the enforcement procedures.
Article 157:People's courts may employ property preservation measures against mortgages, pledges, or liens, but this does not affect the mortgagee's, pledgee's, or lienholder's priority right to be compensated.
Article 158:The people's court may employ property preservation measures for the debtor's due and due earnings, restrict its withdrawal, and notify the relevant units to assist in enforcement.
Article 159:Where the debtor's property cannot satisfy the request for preservation, but there is a due creditor's right to another person, the people's court may, on the basis of the creditor's application, rule that the other person must not repay the debtor in the case. Where the other person demands compensation, the people's court is to deposit the property or price.
Article 160:Where a party files a lawsuit with a people's court with jurisdiction other than employing pre-litigation preservation measures, the people's court employing the pre-litigation preservation measures shall transfer the preservation formalities to the people's court accepting the case. A ruling on pre-litigation preservation is deemed to have been transferred to the people's court for ruling.
Article 161:In cases where a party is dissatisfied with a first-instance judgment and raises an appeal, before the second-instance trial court receives the reported case, where the parties have conduct such as transferring, concealing, selling, or destroying property, and it is necessary to employ preservation measures, the first-instance trial court is to adopt them on the basis of the parties' application or ex officio. The preservation ruling of the first-instance trial court shall be promptly reported to the second-instance trial court.
Article 162:Where the second-instance trial court rules to renew the preservation measures taken by the first-instance trial court or employ new preservation measures, it may implement them on their own or may entrust the first-instance trial court to implement them.
Where the people's court for retrial rules to renew the original preservation measures or adopt new preservation measures, it may implement them on its own, or may entrust the original people's court or enforcement court to implement them.
Article 163:After a legal document takes effect, but before entering the enforcement procedure, if the creditor does not apply for preservation due to an emergency such as the transfer of property by the other party, which may lead to the inability or difficulty of enforcement of the effective legal document, it may apply to the enforcing court to take preservation measures. If the creditor does not apply for enforcement within five days after the expiration of the performance period specified in the legal document, the people's court shall lift the preservation.
Article 164:The people's courts shall handle formalities such as sealing, seizure, or freezing of secured assets provided by the person applying for preservation or others in accordance with law.
Article 165:After a people's court rules to employ preservation measures, no unit may lift the preservation measures during the period of preservation, except for the people's court that made the preservation ruling to lift them on its own or the people's court at the level above decides to do so.
Article 166:In any of the following circumstances after a ruling is made to employ preservation measures, the people's court shall make a ruling to lift the preservation:
(1) The preservation is erroneous;
(2) The applicant withdraws the application for preservation;
(3) The applicant's lawsuit or litigation request is rejected by an effective judgment;
(4) Other circumstances where the people's court finds that the preservation should be lifted.
Where preservation measures implemented by way of registration are lifted, a notice of assistance in enforcement shall be issued to the registration authority.
Article 167:Where the person subject to property preservation provides other secured property of equivalent value and is conducive to enforcement, the people's court may rule to change the subject matter of the preservation to the secured property provided by the person subject to preservation.
Article 168:After a preservation ruling has not been revoked or lifted by a people's court in accordance with law, it is to be automatically converted to sealing, seizure, or freezing measures in the course of enforcement, and the period is calculated consecutively, and the enforcing court does not need to draft a new ruling, except where the period for sealing, seizure, or freezing is complete.
Article 169:Where the Civil Procedure Law provides for advance enforcement, the people's courts shall take it after accepting the case and before the final judgment is made. Prior enforcement shall be limited to the scope of the parties' litigation claims, and shall be limited to the urgent needs of the parties' livelihoods, production and operations.
Article 170:The circumstances provided for in paragraph 3 of article 106 of the Civil Procedure Law are urgent, including:
(1) It is necessary to immediately stop the infringement or remove the obstruction;
(2) It is necessary to immediately stop an act;
(3) Recourse to insurance claims urgently needed for the resumption of production or operation;
(4) It is necessary to immediately return social insurance funds or social assistance funds;
(5) Failure to return the money immediately will seriously affect the rights holder's livelihood and production and operation.
Article 171:Where parties are dissatisfied with a ruling on preservation or prior enforcement, they may apply for reconsideration to the people's court that made the ruling within 5 days of receiving the ruling. The people's court shall review the application for reconsideration within 10 days of receiving it. if the ruling is correct, the party's application is rejected; where the ruling is improper, the original ruling is to be modified or revoked.
Article 172:Where interested parties are dissatisfied with a ruling on preservation or prior enforcement and apply for reconsideration, the people's court that made the ruling is to handle it in accordance with article 108 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 173:Where, after a people's court has first made enforcement, the applicant shall return the benefits obtained as a result of the prior enforcement on the basis of a legally effective judgment, the provisions of article 233 of the Civil Procedure Law apply.
8. Compulsory measures against obstruction of civil litigation
Article 174:Defendants who must appear in court as provided for in article 109 of the Civil Procedure Law refer to defendants who have the obligation to support, raise, or support them, and who are unable to clarify the facts of the case if they do not appear in court.
People's courts may custodial summons plaintiffs who must appear in court to ascertain the basic facts of the case, and refuse to appear in court without a legitimate reason after being summoned by two summonses.
Article 175:Custodial summons must be a custodial summons and served directly on the person being detained; Before custodial summons, the consequences of refusing to appear in court shall be explained to the person being summoned, and where they still refuse to appear in court after criticism and education, they may be summoned to appear in court.
Article 176:Where litigation participants or other persons exhibit any of the following conduct, the people's courts may apply the provisions of article 110 of the Civil Procedure Law to handle it:
(1) Conducting audio recordings, video recordings, or photography without permission;
(2) Transmitting trial activities on the spot without permission through methods such as mobile communications;
(3) Other disruptions of courtroom order or obstruction of trial activities.
In the circumstances provided for in the preceding paragraph, the people's courts may temporarily seize the equipment for litigation participants or other persons to conduct audio, video, photographing, or disseminating trial activities, and order them to delete the relevant content; Where deletion is refused, the people's courts may employ necessary means to compel deletion.
Article 177:Reprimands and orders to leave the courtroom are to be decided by the collegial panel or a single adjudicator. The content of the reprimand and the facts of the offender's violation of the law ordered to leave the courtroom shall be recorded in the trial record.
Article 178:Where people's courts employ detention measures in accordance with articles 110-114 of the Civil Procedure Law, they shall make a written detention decision with the approval of the court president, and the judicial police are to send the detainee to the custody of the local public security organs.
Article 179:Where the detainee is not in the jurisdictional area, the people's court that made the detention decision shall send personnel to the people's court for the detainee's location to request that the court assist in enforcement, and the entrusted people's court shall promptly send personnel to assist in enforcement. Where a detainee applies for reconsideration or admits and corrects a mistake during the period of detention, and it is necessary to release them from detention in advance, the entrusting people's court shall convey or make a recommendation to the entrusting people's court, and the entrusting people's court is to review and make a decision.
Article 180:After a people's court takes detention measures against a detainee, it shall notify his or her family within 24 hours; Where there is truly no way to give notice on time or there is no way to give notice, it shall be recorded in the case file.
Article 181:Where it is necessary to immediately employ detention measures due to an emergency such as making a commotion, storming the courtroom, or using violence, threats, or other methods to resist the performance of official duties, it may be immediately reported to the court president to complete the approval formalities after being taken into custody. Where the court president finds that the detention is improper, the detention shall be released.
Article 182: Where a detainee admits mistakes and repents during the period of detention, he may be ordered to make a statement of repentance and be released from detention ahead of schedule. Early release from detention shall be reported to the court president for approval, and a written decision to release from detention shall be made and handed over to the public security organ responsible for custody for enforcement.
Article 183:The fines and detention provided for in articles 110-113 of the Civil Procedure Law may be applied separately or in combination.
Article 184:Fines and detention for the same conduct obstructing civil litigation must not be applied consecutively. Where new conduct obstructing civil litigation occurs, the people's court may impose a new fine or detention.
Article 185:Where a person who has been fined or detained is dissatisfied with a fine or detention decision and applies for reconsideration, it shall be submitted within 3 days of receiving the written decision. The higher people's court shall make a decision within 5 days of receiving the application for reconsideration, and notify the lower people's court and the parties of the reconsideration outcome.
Article 186:Where a higher level people's court finds that the compulsory measures are improper during reconsideration, it shall draft a written decision to revoke or modify the detention or fine decision made by the lower level people's court. If the situation is urgent, a written decision may be issued within 3 days of the oral notice.
Article 187:The use of violence, threats, or other methods to obstruct judicial personnel's performance of their duties as provided for in item (5) of the first paragraph of article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law includes:
(1) Making a fuss or staying in the people's courts, and not obeying the dissuasion of judicial personnel;
(2) Intentionally destroying or stealing people's court legal documents or sealing signs;
(3) Making a disturbance or storming the scene of the performance of official duties, besieging or detaining persons in the enforcement of official duties, or assisting in the enforcement of official duties;
(4) Destroying, snatching, or detaining case materials, vehicles for performing official duties, other instruments for performing official duties, clothing for performing official duties, and performing official documents;
(5) Using violence, threats, or other methods to obstruct judicial personnel from making inquiries, sealing, seizing, freezing, transferring, auctioning, or selling property;
(6) Other conduct that uses violence, threats, or other methods to obstruct judicial personnel in the performance of their duties.
Article 188:Refusal to perform on a judgment or ruling of a people's court that has already taken legal effect as provided for in item (6) of paragraph 1 of article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law includes:
(1) Concealing, transferring, selling, or destroying property or transferring property without compensation, trading property at an obviously unreasonable price, waiving due creditor's rights, or providing guarantees to others without compensation after a legal document has taken legal effect, making it impossible for the people's court to enforce it;
(2) Concealing, transferring, destroying, or disposing of property that has been provided as a guarantee to the people's court without the permission of the people's court;
(3) Violating the people's court's order to restrict high spending;
(4) Having the ability to perform but refusing to perform an obligation set forth in an effective legal document in accordance with the people's court's enforcement notice;
(5) Individuals who have an obligation to assist in enforcement refuse to assist in enforcement after receiving a people's court's notice of assistance in enforcement.
Article 189:Where litigation participants or other persons exhibit any of the following conduct, the people's courts may apply the provisions of article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law to handle it:
(1) Impersonating others to initiate litigation or participate in litigation;
(2) Witnesses give false testimony after signing a letter of guarantee, obstructing the people's court's trial of the case;
(3) Fabricating, concealing, destroying, or refusing to hand over important evidence related to the person subject to enforcement's ability to perform, obstructing the people's court from ascertaining the status of the person subject to enforcement's property;
(4) Unfreezing assets that have already been frozen by the people's courts without authorization;
(5) After receiving the people's court's notice of assistance in enforcement, giving a report to the parties and assisting them in transferring or concealing assets.
Article 190:The lawful rights and interests of others as provided for in article 112 of the Civil Procedure Law include the lawful rights and interests of persons not involved in the case, the national interest, and the societal public interest.
Where a third party initiates a lawsuit for revocation in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of article 56 of the Civil Procedure Law, and upon review, it is found that the parties to the original case maliciously colluded to conduct a false lawsuit, the provisions of article 112 of the Civil Procedure Law shall apply.
Article 191:Where a unit has conduct provided for in articles 112 or 113 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall fine the unit and may fine or detain its principal responsible person or directly responsible personnel; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.
Article 192:Where relevant units exhibit any of the following conduct after receiving a people's court's notice of assistance in enforcement, the people's court may apply the provisions of article 114 of the Civil Procedure Law to handle it:
(1) Allowing the person subject to enforcement to spend a lot of money;
(2) Allowing the person subject to enforcement to leave the country;
(3) Refusal to stop handling formalities such as for the transfer of property rights certificates, registration of ownership changes, and planning approvals;
(4) Delaying handling on the grounds that internal requests for instructions, internal approvals, or internal regulations are required.
Article 193:When people's courts employ fine measures against individuals or units, they shall determine the corresponding amount of fines within the limits provided for in paragraph 1 of article 115 of the Civil Procedure Law on the basis of factors such as the nature, circumstances, and consequences of the conduct obstructing civil litigation, the level of local economic development, and the amount of the subject matter of the litigation.
9. Litigation costs
Article 194:In cases tried in accordance with article 54 of the Civil Procedure Law, the case acceptance fee is not to be paid in advance, and after the case is concluded, the losing party is to pay it in accordance with the amount of the subject matter of the litigation.
Article 195:Where the payment order is transferred to litigation procedures after it becomes invalid, the creditor shall pay the case acceptance fee in accordance with the "Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees".
After the payment order is revoked, if the creditor files a separate lawsuit, the litigation costs shall be paid in accordance with the Measures for Payment of Litigation Costs.
Article 196:Where people's courts change the original judgment, ruling, or mediation outcome, they shall also handle the burden of litigation costs in the judgment documents.
Article 197:Where the subject matter of litigation is securities, the amount of the subject matter of litigation is to be calculated in accordance with the securities trading rules and on the basis of the closing price of the last trading day prior to the date of filing a lawsuit by the parties, the market price of that day, or the amount indicated therein.
Article 198:Where the subject matter of litigation is specific items such as houses, land, forests, vehicles, ships, or cultural relics, or intellectual property rights, and it is difficult to determine the value at the time of litigation, the people's court shall explain to the plaintiff the litigation risk that the claim is too high or too low, and determine the amount of the subject matter of the litigation based on the value claimed by the plaintiff.
Article 199:Where cases applying the simplified procedures are transferred to ordinary procedures, the plaintiff is to pay the case acceptance fee within 7 days of receiving the people's court's notice to pay litigation fees.
Where the plaintiff fails to make up the full amount on time without a legitimate reason, it is to be handled as a withdrawal of the lawsuit, and half of the litigation fees already collected will be refunded.
Article 200 In civil litigation cases involving debtors in bankruptcy proceedings, litigation fees shall be paid in accordance with the standards for property cases, except for labor dispute cases.
Article 201:Where there are both property and non-property litigation claims, litigation fees are to be paid in accordance with the standards for property litigation claims.
where there are multiple property litigation claims, the litigation fees are to be calculated and paid on a consolidated basis; Where there are multiple non-property litigation claims in a litigation claim, litigation fees are to be paid on a one-piece basis.
Article 202:Where plaintiffs, defendants, and third parties separately appeal, they are to separately pay the second-instance trial case acceptance fee in advance in accordance with the appeal request.
Where multiple people from the same party appeal together, only one second-instance case acceptance fee is to be paid in advance; Where separate appeals are made, the second-instance trial case acceptance fee is to be paid separately in accordance with the appeal request.
Article 203:Where the parties who bear joint and several liability lose the lawsuit, they shall jointly bear the litigation costs.
Article 204 In the case of realization of a security interest, where the people's court rules to auction or sell the secured property, the application fee shall be borne by the debtor or the guarantor; Where the people's court rules to reject the application, the applicant shall bear the application fee.
If the applicant files a separate lawsuit, the application fee already paid may be deducted from the case acceptance fee.
Article 205:Where the people's court compels to enforce the judgment after a ruling is made to auction or sell secured property, it shall collect an enforcement application fee in accordance with the amount of enforcement.
Article 206:Where a people's court decides to halve the case acceptance fee, it may only be halved once.
Article 207:After the judgment takes effect, the people's court shall refund the litigation fees that the winning party has paid in advance but should not bear, and the losing party is to pay them to the people's court, except where the winning party voluntarily bears or agrees that the losing party will pay them directly.
Where a party refuses to pay litigation fees, the people's court may enforce it.
10. Ordinary procedures for first-instance trial
Article 208:When people's courts receive civil complaints submitted by parties, they shall register and file the case if they meet the requirements of article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law and do not fall under the circumstances provided for in article 124; Where it is not possible to determine whether the requirements for initiating litigation are met on the spot, the prosecution materials shall be received, and a written certificate indicating the date of receipt shall be issued.
Where it is necessary to supplement the necessary relevant materials, the people's courts shall promptly inform the parties. After completing the relevant materials, a decision on whether to file the case shall be made within 7 days.
Where, after filing a case, it is discovered that the requirements for initiating litigation are not met or that the circumstances provided for in article 124 of the Civil Procedure Law are to be rejected.
Article 209:Where the plaintiff provides information such as the defendant's name or address and is specific and clear enough to distinguish the defendant from others, it may be found to have a clear defendant.
Where the defendant's information in the complaint is insufficient to identify a clear defendant, the people's court may inform the plaintiff to supplement and correct it. Where the plaintiff is still unable to identify a clear defendant after supplementing and correcting it, the people's court rules not to accept it.
Article 210:Where the plaintiff has verbal abuse or personal attacks in the complaint, the people's court shall inform them to initiate litigation after making amendments.
Article 211:In cases where that court does not have jurisdiction, inform the plaintiff to file a lawsuit with a people's court with jurisdiction; where the plaintiff insists on suing the lawsuit, a ruling is made not to accept it; Where, after filing a case, it is discovered that that the court does not have jurisdiction, the case shall be transferred to a people's court with jurisdiction.
Article 212:In cases where a ruling is made not to accept or reject a lawsuit, and the plaintiff initiates a lawsuit again, and meets the requirements for initiating a lawsuit and does not fall under the circumstances provided for in article 124 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 213:Where the plaintiff should have paid the case acceptance fee in advance but did not pay the case acceptance fee in advance, the people's court shall notify them to do so in advance, and where they still do not pay in advance after being notified, or where the application for reduction, postponement, or exemption is not approved but the advance payment is still not made, it is to be ruled to be handled as a withdrawal of the lawsuit.
Article 214:Where after the plaintiff withdraws the lawsuit or the people's court handles it as withdrawn, the plaintiff files a lawsuit again with the same litigation demand, the people's court shall accept it.
In divorce cases where the plaintiff withdraws the lawsuit or handles it as withdrawn, and there are no new circumstances or new reasons, and the lawsuit is filed again within six months, it is not to be accepted in accordance with the provisions of item 7 of article 124 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 215:In accordance with the provisions of item 2 of article 124 of the Civil Procedure Law, where a party has an arbitration clause in a written contract, or reaches a written arbitration agreement after a dispute has arisen, and one party files a lawsuit with the people's court, the people's court shall inform the plaintiff to apply to the arbitration institution for arbitration, and where it insists on filing a lawsuit, it shall rule not to accept it, except where the arbitration clause or arbitration agreement is not established, invalid, invalid, or the content is unclear and unenforceable.
Article 216:Where the defendant raises an objection to the acceptance of a civil case on the grounds that there is a written arbitration agreement before the people's court holds court proceedings for the first time, the people's court shall conduct a review.
Where any of the following circumstances are met upon review, the people's court shall rule to reject the lawsuit:
(1) The arbitration institution or the people's court has confirmed the validity of the arbitration agreement;
(2) the parties have not raised any objection to the validity of the arbitration agreement before the first hearing of the arbitral tribunal;
(3) The arbitration agreement complies with the provisions of Article 16 of the Arbitration Law and does not meet the circumstances provided for in Article 17 of the Arbitration Law.
Article 217:In cases where one of the spouses is missing, and the other party files a lawsuit with the people's court, only requesting a divorce and not applying for a declaration of the disappearance or death of a person whose whereabouts are unknown, the people's court shall accept it and announce the service of litigation documents on the person whose whereabouts are unknown.
Article 218:In cases of alimony, alimony, or child support, after the judgment has taken legal effect, due to new circumstances or new reasons, one party files another lawsuit requesting an increase or decrease in fees, the people's court shall accept it as a new case.
Article 219:Where a party initiates a lawsuit beyond the statute of limitations, the people's court shall accept it. Where, after acceptance, the opposing party raises a defense of the statute of limitations, and the people's court finds that the cause of the defense is sustained after trial, it shall make a judgment rejecting the plaintiff's litigation claim.
Article 220: Commercial secrets provided for in articles 68, 134, and 156 of the Civil Procedure Law refer to technical secrets, commercial intelligence, and information that parties are unwilling to disclose such as production processes, formulas, trade contacts, and purchase and sales channels.
Article 221:Where disputes arise on the basis of the same facts, and the parties separately file lawsuits in the same people's court, the people's courts may combine them for trial.
Article 222:Where the plaintiff directly lists a third party in the complaint, it is viewed as an application to the people's court to add that third party to participate in the litigation. The people's court is to review and decide whether to notify a third party to participate in the litigation.
Article 223:Where a party raises an objection to jurisdiction during the period of submitting a reply, and then responds to the content of the complaint, the people's court shall conduct a review of the objection to jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 127 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where the parties do not raise an objection to jurisdiction, but make a defense, statement, or counterclaim on the substantive content of the case, it may be found to be a response to the lawsuit as provided for in paragraph 2 of article 127 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 224:In accordance with item 4 of article 133 of the Civil Procedure Law, people's courts may, after the period for the defense is completed, make preparations before trial through methods such as organizing evidence exchanges and convening pretrial conferences.
Article 225:Based on the specific circumstances of the case, the pretrial conference may include the following content:
(1) Clarify the plaintiff's litigation demands and the defendant's defense opinions;
(2) Review and handle applications and counterclaims submitted by parties to add or modify litigation claims, as well as litigation claims related to the case submitted by third parties;
(3) Decide to investigate and collect evidence on the basis of a party's application, entrust an evaluation, request that the party provide evidence, conduct an inquest, and conduct evidence preservation;
(4) Organizing the exchange of evidence;
(5) Summarize the focus of the dispute;
(6) Conduct mediation.
Article 226:People's courts shall summarize the focus of the dispute on the basis of the parties' litigation demands, defense opinions, and the exchange of evidence, and solicit the parties' opinions on the summarized focus of the dispute.
Article 227:People's courts applying ordinary procedures to hear cases shall use summons to summon the parties three days before court begins. Agents ad litem, witnesses, evaluators, inquest personnel, and translators shall be notified of their appearance in court with a written notice. Where parties or other litigation participants are in other places, they shall leave the necessary time in transit.
Article 228:Courtroom hearings shall focus on key issues such as the facts, evidence, and application of law in dispute between the parties.
Article 229:Where parties submit different opinions on the facts and evidence they accepted during the preparatory phase prior to trial, the people's court shall order them to explain the reasons. When necessary, they may be ordered to provide relevant evidence. The people's court shall conduct a review in consideration of the parties' litigation capacity, evidence, and the specific circumstances of the case. Where the reasons are sustained, they may be included in the focus of the dispute for trial.
Article 230:Based on the specific circumstances of the case and with the consent of the parties, people's courts may combine courtroom investigation and courtroom debate.
Article 231:Where parties submit new evidence in court, the people's courts shall handle it in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 65 of the Civil Procedure Law and the relevant provisions of this interpretation.
Article 232:Where, after the case is accepted but before the conclusion of courtroom debate, the plaintiff adds litigation claims, the defendant submits a counterclaim, and a third party submits litigation claims related to the case, and the trial may be combined, the people's court shall do so together.
Article 233:The parties to a counterclaim shall be limited to the scope of the parties to the lawsuit.
Where the claims of the counterclaim and the litigation are based on the same legal relationship, there is a causal relationship between the litigation claims, or the litigation claims of the counterclaim and the litigation claim are based on the same facts, the people's court shall combine them for trial.
Where the counterclaim shall have the exclusive jurisdiction of another people's court, or is not related to the subject matter of the lawsuit or the facts or reasons on which the claim is based, a ruling shall be made not to accept it, and a separate lawsuit shall be notified.
Article 234:In divorce proceedings for persons lacking capacity for civil conduct, the parties' legally-designated representatives shall appear in court; Where the legally-designated representative is unable to appear in court, the people's court shall make a judgment in accordance with law on the basis of ascertaining the facts.
Article 235:Where the legally-designated representative of a party who lacks capacity for civil conduct refuses to appear in court without a legitimate reason after being summoned by summons, and it belongs to the plaintiff, it is to be handled as a withdrawal of the lawsuit in accordance with article 143 of the Civil Procedure Law; where it belongs to the defendant, a judgment in absentia is to be made in accordance with article 144 of the Civil Procedure Law. When necessary, the people's court may custodial and summon him to appear in court.
Article 236:Where a third party with the right to make an independent request is summoned by a people's court and refuses to appear in court without a legitimate reason, or leaves court without the court's permission, it is to be handled as withdrawal of the lawsuit mutatis mutandis.
Article 237:After a third party with independent claims participates in the litigation, and the plaintiff applies to withdraw the lawsuit, after the people's court permits the plaintiff to withdraw the lawsuit, the third party with the right to make an independent claim is to be the plaintiff in another case, and the plaintiff or defendant in the original case is to be the defendant in another case, and the litigation continues.
Article 238:In cases where a party applies to withdraw a lawsuit or may be handled as a withdrawal in accordance with law, if the party has conduct that violates the law and needs to be handled in accordance with law, the people's court may not permit the withdrawal of the lawsuit or not handle it as withdrawn.
Where the plaintiff applies to withdraw the lawsuit after the conclusion of courtroom debate, and the defendant does not agree, the people's court may not approve it.
Article 239:Where the people's court permits the plaintiff in the lawsuit to withdraw the lawsuit, it shall continue trial of the counterclaim; Where the defendant applies to withdraw the counterclaim, the people's court shall allow it.
Article 240:Where a third party who does not have the right to make an independent claim is summoned by a people's court summons and refuses to appear in court without a legitimate reason, or leaves court without the court's permission, it does not impact the trial of the case.
Article 241:Where the defendant is summoned by summons and refuses to appear in court without a legitimate reason, or leaves court without the court's permission, the people's court shall hold in-court proceedings as scheduled or continue in-court proceedings, and may make a judgment in absentia in accordance with law after hearing the litigation claims of the parties appearing in court, the arguments of both parties, and the evidence and other litigation materials that have already been submitted.
Article 242:Where, after the first-instance judgment is announced, the original people's court discovers that the judgment is in error, and the parties submit an appeal within the appeal period, the original people's court may submit an opinion that the original judgment was in error, and send it to the second-instance trial court, which is to conduct trial in accordance with the second-instance trial procedures; Where the parties do not appeal, it is to be handled in accordance with the trial supervision procedures.
Article 243:The time limit for trial provided for in article 149 of the Civil Procedure Law refers to the period from the date on which the case is filed to the date on which the judgment is announced or the mediation document is served, but the period for public announcement, evaluation, settlement between the parties, jurisdictional objections raised by the trial parties, and the period for handling jurisdictional disputes between the people's courts shall not be counted.
Article 244:Where judgments or rulings that may be appealed cannot be served on both parties at the same time, the period for appeals is calculated from the date on which they each receive the judgment or ruling.
Article 245:Clerical errors as provided for in item 7 of the first paragraph of article 154 of the Civil Procedure Law refer to miswriting or miscalculation of legal documents, omissions or miscalculations of litigation costs, and other clerical errors.
Article 246:When the reasons for the suspension of litigation are eliminated and litigation procedures are resumed, it is not necessary to revoke the original ruling, and the ruling to suspend litigation is invalid from the time the people's court notifies or permits both parties to continue the litigation.
Article 247:Where a party initiates a lawsuit again during the course of litigation or after a judgment has taken effect, and the following conditions are met at the same time, it constitutes duplicate litigation:
(1) The parties to the later lawsuit are the same as those in the previous lawsuit;
(2) The subject matter of the later litigation is the same as that of the previous litigation;
(3) The claims of the later litigation are the same as those of the previous litigation, or the litigation claims of the later litigation substantially negate the judgment of the previous litigation.
Where the parties file repeated lawsuits, a ruling is made not to accept them; where it has already been accepted, a ruling is made to reject the lawsuit, except as otherwise provided by laws or judicial interpretations.
Article 248:Where new facts arise after a judgment has taken legal effect, and the parties raise a lawsuit again, the people's court shall accept it in accordance with law.
Article 249:Where the civil rights and obligations in dispute are transferred during litigation, it does not impact the parties' qualifications as the subject of litigation and their litigation status. A legally effective judgment or ruling made by a people's court shall be binding on the transferee.
Where the transferee applies to participate in the litigation as a third party without the right to make an independent claim, the people's court may permit it. Where the transferee applies to undertake the litigation on behalf of the parties, the people's court may decide whether to approve it based on the specific circumstances of the case; where permission is not granted, they may be added as a third party who does not have the right to make an independent claim.
Article 250:Where, in accordance with article 249 of this interpretation, the people's court allows the transferee to undertake litigation on behalf of the parties, it is to rule to change the parties.
After the change of parties, the litigation proceeds with the transferee as the party, and the original party shall withdraw from the litigation. The litigation acts that have been completed by the original party are binding on the assignee.
Article 251:In cases where a second-instance judgment is ruled to revoke the first-instance judgment and remand for new trial, where a party applies to modify or add litigation claims or submit a counterclaim, and a third party submits litigation claims related to the case, it is to be handled in accordance with article 140 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 252:In cases where a retrial ruling revokes the original judgment or remands for new trial, and the parties apply to modify or add litigation demands or submit counterclaims, and meet any of the following circumstances, the people's courts shall permit it:
(1) The original trial court did not lawfully summon a default judgment, impacting the parties' exercise of procedural rights;
(2) adding new litigants;
(3) The loss or change of the subject matter of the litigation makes it impossible to realize the original litigation claim;
(4) Where a party applies for a modification or addition, or submits a counterclaim, which cannot be resolved through a separate lawsuit.
Article 253:In cases where the verdict is announced at court, the people's court shall inform the parties or agents ad litem of the time and place of receiving the judgment documents, as well as the legal consequences of not receiving them within the time limit, except where the parties request that the judgment documents be mailed and sent at court. The circumstances described above shall be recorded in the record.
Article 254:Where citizens, legal persons, or other organizations apply to review a legally effective judgment or ruling, they shall submit it to the people's court that made the effective judgment. The application shall be submitted in writing and provide a specific case number or the names of the parties.
Article 255:People's courts are to handle applications for access to judgments or rulings on the basis of the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where judgments or rulings have already been disclosed to the public through information networks, the applicant shall be guided to read them on their own;
(2) Where judgments or rulings have not been disclosed to the public through information networks, and the application meets the requirements, convenient access services shall be promptly provided;
(3) Where the judgment or ruling has not yet taken legal effect, or has lost its legal effect, it is not to be provided for inspection and the applicant is to be informed;
(4) Where a legally effective judgment or ruling was not made by that court, the applicant shall be informed to apply for access to the people's court that made the effective judgment;
(5) Where the content of the application for access involves state secrets, commercial secrets, or personal privacy, it is not to be approved and the applicant is to be informed.
11. Summary Procedure
Article 256:The fact that the facts in a simple civil case as provided for in article 157 of the Civil Procedure Law are clear refers to the fact that the parties are basically the same in their statements of the facts in dispute, and can provide corresponding evidence, and the facts can be ascertained without the need for the people's court to investigate and collect evidence; The relationship between rights and obligations clearly refers to the ability to clearly distinguish who is the bearer of responsibility and who is the holder of rights; Minor dispute refers to the unprincipled disagreement between the parties on the merits of the case, the assumption of responsibility, and the dispute over the subject matter of the litigation.
Article 257:The summary procedures are not to be applied in the following cases:
(1) The defendant's whereabouts are unknown at the time of indictment;
(2) Remanded for new trial;
(3) The number of parties is large;
(4) Where the trial supervision procedures are applied;
(5) Involving the national interest or the societal public interest;
(6) A third party files a lawsuit requesting that an effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document be modified or revoked;
(7) Other cases where it is not appropriate to apply the simplified procedures.
Article 258:In cases applying the simplified procedures, where both parties agree to continue to apply the simplified procedures after the time limit for trial is completed, the time limit for trial may be extended with the approval of the president of that court. The cumulative period for trial after the extension must not exceed six months.
Where the people's court discovers that the case is complicated and needs to be transferred to ordinary procedures for trial, it shall make a ruling before the completion of the trial period and notify both parties in writing of the composition of the collegial panel and relevant matters.
Where the case is transferred to ordinary procedures for trial, the time limit for trial is calculated from the date on which the case is filed by the people's court.
Article 259:Both parties may submit an application to the people's court for the method of holding in-court proceedings, and the people's court is to decide whether to approve it. With the consent of both parties, audio-visual transmission technology and other methods may be used to hold court hearings.
Article 260:Cases that have already been tried in accordance with the ordinary procedures must not be transferred to summary procedures after in-court proceedings begin.
Article 261:In cases applying the simplified procedures at trial, the people's courts may employ simple methods such as sending messages, phone calls, text messages, faxes, and e-mails to summon both parties, notify witnesses, and serve litigation documents other than judgment documents.
Where a notice of hearing served in a simplified manner has not been confirmed by the parties or there is no other evidence to prove that the parties have already received it, the people's court must not make a judgment in absentia.
In cases applying the summary procedures, the adjudicator is to hear the case alone, and the clerk is to serve as the record.
Article 262:Judgments, rulings, or mediation documents produced by people's courtrooms must be affixed with the seal of the basic level people's court, and the seal of the people's courtroom must not be used in place of the seal of the basic level people's court.
Article 263:In cases applying the summary procedures at trial, the following materials shall be included in the case file:
(1) A record of the complaint or oral complaint;
(2) A reply or oral defense record;
(3) The parties' identification materials;
(4) A power of attorney or oral record of entrustment to retain another person to represent them in litigation;
(5) Evidence;
(6) Records of questioning parties;
(7) Records of trials (including mediation);
(8) Judgments, rulings, mediation documents, or mediation agreements;
(9) Records of service and announcement of judgment;
(10) Implementation;
(11) Receipts for litigation fees;
(12) Where the provisions of article 162 of the Civil Procedure Law are applied at trial, a written notice of the application of the relevant procedures.
Article 264:Where both parties agree to apply the simplified procedures on the basis of paragraph 2 of article 157 of the Civil Procedure Law, they shall submit it before court begins. Where it is submitted orally, it is to be recorded in the record and confirmed by the signatures or seals of both parties.
In cases provided for in article 257 of this interpretation, where the parties agree to apply the simplified procedures, the people's courts are not to approve it.
Article 265:Where the plaintiff files an oral lawsuit, the people's court shall accurately record the parties' name, gender, work unit, residence, contact information, and other basic information, litigation demands, facts and reasons, and so forth, in the record, and the plaintiff is to sign or seal them after verifying that they are correct. Receipts shall be issued for the evidentiary materials submitted by the parties.
Article 266:The time limit for presenting evidence in cases applying the simplified procedures is to be determined by the people's courts, and may also be agreed upon by the parties through consultation and approved by the people's courts, but must not exceed 15 days. Where the defendant requests a written defense, the people's court may, on the basis of obtaining their consent, reasonably determine the period for the defense.
The people's court shall inform both parties of the time limit for presenting evidence and the date of trial, and explain to the parties the legal consequences of late presentation of evidence and refusal to appear in court, and both parties shall sign or seal the record and the receipt of service of the summons for court hearing.
Where both parties indicate that they do not need a time limit for presenting evidence or a period for making a defense, the people's court may immediately hold in-court proceedings or set a date for trial.
Article 267:In cases applying the simplified procedures at trial, pre-trial preparations may be made in a simplified manner.
Article 268:For parties who have not retained a lawyer or basic-level legal service worker to represent them in litigation, the people's courts may, during the course of trial, make necessary explanations or explanations to them of such content such as recusal, self-admission, and the burden of presenting evidence, and appropriately remind the parties to correctly exercise their procedural rights and perform litigation obligations during the course of trial.
Article 269:Where parties raise objections to the application of the simplified procedures in the case, and upon review, the people's court finds that the objection is sustained, it rules to change it to ordinary procedures; If the objection is not sustained, inform the parties orally and record it in the record.
Where it is converted to ordinary procedures, the people's court shall notify both parties in writing of the composition of the collegial panel and related matters.
Before the transfer to ordinary procedures, the facts that have been confirmed by both parties may no longer be presented or debated.
Article 270:In any of the following circumstances in cases applying the summary procedures, the people's courts may appropriately simplify the part of the facts ascertained or the reasons for the judgment when drafting the judgment, ruling, or mediation document:
(1) The parties reach a mediation agreement and need to draft a civil mediation document;
(2) One party expressly acknowledges all or part of the other party's litigation claims;
(3) In cases involving commercial secrets or personal privacy, where one of the parties requests that the relevant content in the judgment document be simplified, and the people's court finds that the reasons are legitimate;
(4) The parties agree to simplify.
XII. Small Claims Litigation in Summary Procedures
Article 271:People's courts hearing small claims cases are to apply the provisions of article 162 of the Civil Procedure Law, and carry out the final trial of the first instance.
Article 272:The average annual wages of employed persons in each province, autonomous region, or directly governed municipality in the previous year as provided for in article 162 of the Civil Procedure Law refers to the average annual wage of employed persons in each province, autonomous region, or directly governed municipality in the previous year that has already been announced. Before the annual average wage of employed persons in the previous year is announced, the average annual wage of employed persons in the most recent year that has been published shall prevail.
Article 273: Maritime courts may hear maritime and maritime small claims cases. The amount of the subject matter of the case shall be limited to 30% of the average annual salary of employed persons in the previous year in the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government where the maritime court or the court dispatched by the maritime court actually accepting the case is located.
Article 274:The following cases of monetary payments are to be tried using the small claims procedures:
(1) Disputes over sales contracts, loan contracts, and lease contracts;
(2) Disputes over alimony, child support, or alimony where the identity relationship is clear, and there is only a dispute over the amount, time, and method of payment;
(3) Disputes over compensation for traffic accidents and other personal injuries where the responsibility is clear and there is only a dispute over the amount, time, and method of payment;
(4) Disputes over water, electricity, gas, and heat supply contracts;
(5) Bank card disputes;
(6) Labor contract disputes where the labor relationship is clear, and there are disputes only over the amount, time, and method of labor remuneration, work-related injury medical expenses, economic compensation, or compensation;
(7) Labor contract disputes where the labor relationship is clear, and there is only a dispute over the amount, time, and method of payment of labor remuneration;
(8) Disputes over property management, telecommunications, and other service contracts;
(9) Other disputes over the payment of money.
Article 275:The following cases are not to be tried using the small claims procedures:
(1) Disputes over personal relationships and property rights confirmation;
(2) Foreign-related civil disputes;
(3) Intellectual property disputes;
(4) Disputes that require assessment or evaluation, or where there are objections to the results of pre-litigation assessment or evaluation;
(5) Other disputes that are not suitable for the application of the first-instance final adjudication.
Article 276:People's courts accepting small claims cases shall inform the parties of the trial organization, the final trial of the first instance, the time limit for trial, the standard for payment of litigation fees, and other relevant matters.
Article 277:The time limit for the presentation of evidence in small claims cases is to be determined by the people's courts, and may also be agreed upon by the parties through consultation and approved by the people's courts, but generally not to exceed 7 days.
Where the defendant requests a written defense, the people's court may reasonably determine the period for the defense on the basis of their consent, but it must not exceed 15 days at the longest.
Where, after appearing in court, the parties indicate that they do not need the time limit for presenting evidence or the period for making a defense, the people's court may immediately hold in-court proceedings.
Article 278:Where parties raise objections to jurisdiction in small claims cases, the people's courts shall make a ruling. The decision shall take effect as soon as it is rendered.
Article 279:After a people's court accepts a small claims case, and discovers that the lawsuit does not meet the requirements for initiating litigation as provided for in article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law, it rules to reject the indictment. The decision shall take effect as soon as it is rendered.
Article 280:Where the case does not meet the requirements for small claims due to a party's application to add or modify litigation demands, raise counterclaims, add parties, and so forth, other provisions of the simplified procedures shall be applied at trial.
Where the cases provided for in the preceding paragraph shall be tried using the ordinary procedures, a ruling is to be made to change them to ordinary procedures.
Where other provisions of the summary procedures are applied or the facts that have already been confirmed by both parties before trial are applied, evidence may no longer be presented or debated.
Article 281:Where parties have objections to the trial of a small claims case, they shall submit it before trial begins. Where upon review, the people's court finds that the objection is sustained, it is to apply other provisions of the simplified procedures for trial; Where the objection is not sustained, inform the parties and record it in the record.
Article 282:Judgment documents in small claims cases may be simplified, primarily recording content such as the parties' basic information, litigation demands, and the main text of the judgment.
Article 283:Where people's courts hear small claims cases where this interpretation has no provisions, apply other provisions of the simplified procedures.
13. Public interest litigation
Article 284:Where organs and relevant organizations provided for by the Environmental Protection Law, the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, and other laws and regulations, initiate public interest litigation on the basis of article 55 of the Civil Procedure Law, where the following conditions are met, the people's courts shall accept public interest litigation on the basis of conduct that harms the public interest, such as polluting the environment or infringing on the lawful rights and interests of many consumers:
(1) There is a clear defendant;
(2) There are specific litigation claims;
(3) There is prima facie evidence of harm to the societal public interest;
(4) It is within the scope of civil litigation accepted by the people's court and the jurisdiction of the people's court receiving the lawsuit.
Article 285:Public interest litigation cases are under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's court for the site of the infringement or the defendant's domicile, except as otherwise provided by laws or judicial interpretations.
Public interest lawsuits brought for pollution of the marine environment shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the maritime court at the place where the pollution occurs, where the damage is caused, or where pollution prevention measures are taken.
Where public interest litigation is separately filed with two or more people's courts for the same infringement, the people's court that first files the case has jurisdiction, and when necessary, the people's court at the level above them designates jurisdiction.
Article 286:After people's courts accept public interest litigation cases, they shall notify the relevant administrative departments in writing within 10 days.
Article 287:After a people's court accepts a public interest litigation case, other organs and relevant organizations that may raise litigation in accordance with law may apply to the people's court to participate in the litigation before trial begins. Where the people's courts permit participation in the litigation, they are to be listed as joint plaintiffs.
Article 288:People's courts' acceptance of public interest litigation cases does not impact the victim of the same infringement initiating litigation in accordance with article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 289:In public interest litigation cases, the parties may settle, and the people's courts may mediate.
After the parties reach a settlement or mediation agreement, the people's court shall make a public announcement of the settlement or mediation agreement. The announcement period shall not be less than 30 days.
After the public notice period is completed, if the people's court finds that the settlement or mediation agreement does not violate the public interest, it shall issue a mediation document; Where a settlement or mediation agreement violates the public interest, a mediation document is not to be issued, and the case is to continue to be tried and a judgment is made in accordance with law.
Article 290:Where the plaintiff in a public interest litigation case applies to withdraw the lawsuit after the conclusion of courtroom debate, the people's court is not to permit it.
Article 291:Where, after a judgment in a public interest litigation case takes legal effect, other organs and relevant organizations with plaintiff credentials in accordance with law separately raise public interest litigation on the same infringing act, the people's court rules not to accept it, except as otherwise provided by laws or judicial interpretations.
14. Litigation for revocation by a third party
Article 292:Where a third party initiates a lawsuit to revoke a judgment, ruling, or mediation document that has already taken legal effect, they shall submit it to the people's court that made the effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document within 6 months of knowing or should have known that their civil rights and interests have been harmed, and shall provide evidence of the following circumstances:
(1) Failure to participate in litigation for reasons not attributable to the person;
(2) The content of all or part of the legally effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document is erroneous;
(3) The content of a legally effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document is erroneous and harms their civil rights and interests.
Article 293:The people's court shall send the complaint and evidentiary materials to the opposing party within 5 days of receiving it, and the opposing party may submit written comments within 10 days of receiving the complaint.
The people's court shall conduct a review of the complaint and evidentiary materials submitted by the third party, as well as the written opinions of the opposing party. When necessary, both parties may be questioned.
Where upon review the requirements for initiating a complaint are met, the people's court shall file the case within 30 days of receiving the complaint. Where the requirements for initiating a complaint are not met, a ruling shall be made to not accept it within 30 days of receiving the complaint.
Article 294:People's courts shall form a collegial panel to hear cases where a lawsuit is withdrawn by a third party.
Article 295:Failure to participate in litigation due to reasons not attributable to the person as provided for in paragraph 3 of article 56 of the Civil Procedure Law refers to situations where they are not listed as parties to an effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document, and there is no fault or obvious fault. Include:
(1) They did not participate in the litigation without knowing about it;
(2) The application to participate is not approved;
(3) They are aware of the litigation but are unable to participate due to objective reasons;
(4) Failure to participate in litigation for other reasons that cannot be attributed to the person.
Article 296:Part or all of the content of judgments, rulings, or mediation documents as provided for in paragraph 3 of article 56 of the Civil Procedure Law refers to the main text of the judgment or ruling, and the results of the handling of the parties' civil rights and obligations in the mediation document.
Article 297:Where a third-party revocation lawsuit is initiated in the following circumstances, the people's court will not accept it:
(1) Cases handled by non-litigation procedures such as special procedures, supervision procedures, public announcement and reminder procedures, and bankruptcy procedures;
(2) Content in judgments, rulings, or mediation documents that involve identity relationships, such as invalidity, revocation, or dissolution of marriage;
(3) The effective judgment of the right holder who has not participated in the registration of the representative litigation case as provided for in article 54 of the Civil Procedure Law;
(4) Effective judgments in public interest litigation cases by victims of conduct harming the public interest as provided for in article 55 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 298:Where a third party initiates a lawsuit for revocation, the people's court shall list the third party as the plaintiff, and the parties to the effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document as the defendant, but the third party who does not bear responsibility in the effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document and does not have the right to make an independent claim is listed as a third party.
Article 299:Where, after accepting a case of revocation by a third party, the plaintiff provides corresponding guarantees and requests a suspension of enforcement, the people's court may permit it.
Article 300: People's courts shall, upon trial, handle requests by third parties to revoke or partially revoke the content of legally effective judgments, rulings, or mediation documents in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where the request is established and the claim for civil rights is confirmed in whole or in part, the erroneous part of the content of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document is changed;
(2) Where the request is sustained, but the claim confirming all or part of their civil rights is not sustained, or no request for confirmation of their civil rights is submitted, revoke the erroneous part of the content of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document;
(3) Where the request is not sustained, the litigation claim is to be rejected.
Where they are dissatisfied with the judgment provided for in the preceding paragraph, the parties may appeal.
The content of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document that has not been changed or revoked shall continue to be valid.
Article 301:Where, during the trial period of a lawsuit withdrawn by a third party, the people's court rules for a retrial of an effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document, the people's court accepting the lawsuit withdrawn by the third party shall rule to merge the third party's litigation claims into the retrial procedures. However, where there is evidence showing that the parties to the original trial maliciously colluded to harm the lawful rights and interests of a third party, the people's court shall first hear the case of the third party's withdrawal and rule to suspend the retrial litigation.
Article 302:Where a third party's litigation request is merged into the retrial procedures for trial, it is to be handled in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where the trial is conducted in accordance with the first-instance trial procedures, the people's court shall hear the third party's litigation claims together, and the judgment may be appealed;
(2) Where the trial is conducted in accordance with the second-instance trial procedures, the people's court may mediate, and where mediation fails to reach an agreement, it shall rule to revoke the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document, and remand it to the first-instance trial court for new trial, and the third party shall be listed at the time of retrial.
Article 303:Where the enforcement of an effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document is not suspended after a third party initiates a lawsuit for revocation, the enforcing court shall review the enforcement objection raised by the third party in accordance with article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law. Where a third party is dissatisfied with a ruling rejecting an objection to enforcement and applies for a retrial of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document, the people's court will not accept it.
Where a person not involved in the case is dissatisfied with the people's court's ruling rejecting his objection to enforcement, and believes that the content of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document was erroneous and harmed his lawful rights and interests, he shall apply for a retrial in accordance with article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law, and where a lawsuit for revocation by a third party is raised, the people's court will not accept it.
15. Litigation of objection to enforcement
Article 304:In accordance with article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law, where a person or party not involved in the case is dissatisfied with an enforcement objection ruling, and files a lawsuit against enforcement with the people's court within 15 days from the date on which the ruling is served, the enforcing court has jurisdiction.
Article 305:In addition to complying with the provisions of article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law, a person not involved in the case initiating an enforcement objection lawsuit shall also meet the following requirements:
(1) The application for an objection to enforcement by a person not involved in the case has been rejected by the people's court;
(2) There is a litigation claim that clearly excludes enforcement of the subject matter of enforcement, and the litigation claim has nothing to do with the original judgment or ruling;
(3) It is raised within 15 days from the date on which the enforcement objection ruling is served.
The people's court shall decide whether to file the case within 15 days of receiving the complaint.
Article 306:In addition to complying with the provisions of article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law, the person applying for enforcement shall also meet the following requirements when initiating an enforcement objection lawsuit:
(1) The people's court rules to suspend enforcement on the basis of an objection to enforcement by a person not involved in the case;
(2) There is a clear litigation claim for continued enforcement of the subject matter of enforcement, and the litigation claim has nothing to do with the original judgment or ruling;
(3) It is raised within 15 days from the date on which the enforcement objection ruling is served.
The people's court shall decide whether to file the case within 15 days of receiving the complaint.
Article 307:Where a person not involved in the case raises a lawsuit against enforcement, the person applying for enforcement is the defendant. Where the person subject to enforcement objects to an objection from a person not involved in the case, the person subject to enforcement is a co-defendant; Where the person subject to enforcement does not object to an objection from a person not involved in the case, the person subject to enforcement may be listed as a third party.
Article 308:Where the person applying for enforcement raises a lawsuit against enforcement, the person not involved in the case is the defendant. Where the person subject to enforcement objects to the claim of the person applying for enforcement, the person not involved in the case and the person subject to enforcement are the co-defendants; Where the person subject to enforcement does not object to the claim of the person applying for enforcement, the person subject to enforcement may be listed as a third party.
Article 309:Where the person applying for enforcement does not raise an objection to enforcement against the ruling to suspend enforcement, and the person subject to enforcement raises a lawsuit against enforcement, the people's court shall inform him to file a separate lawsuit.
Article 310:People's courts hearing litigation cases of objections to enforcement are to apply ordinary procedures.
Article 311:Where a person not involved in the case or a person applying for enforcement raises a lawsuit against enforcement, the person not involved in the case shall bear the burden of proof that he or she enjoys civil rights and interests in the subject matter of enforcement that are sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement.
Article 312:The people's courts shall, upon trial, handle litigation against enforcement objections raised by persons not involved in the case in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where a person not involved in the case enjoys civil rights and interests in the subject matter of enforcement sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement, the judgment must not enforce the subject matter of enforcement;
(2) Where persons not involved in the case do not enjoy civil rights and interests sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement with respect to the subject matter of enforcement, a judgment is made to reject the litigation claim.
Where persons not involved in the case simultaneously submit a litigation request for confirmation of their rights, the people's court may make a judgment in conjunction with the judgment.
Article 313:The people's court shall, after trial, handle a lawsuit against enforcement raised by the applicant for enforcement in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where persons not involved in the case do not enjoy civil rights and interests sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement with respect to the subject matter of enforcement, a judgment is made to permit enforcement of the subject matter of enforcement;
(2) Where a person not involved in the case enjoys civil rights and interests in the subject matter of enforcement sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement, a judgment is made to reject the litigation claim.
Article 314:Where a people's court makes a judgment that the subject matter of enforcement must not be enforced in a lawsuit against an outsider objecting to enforcement, the ruling on the objection to enforcement is invalid.
If the people's court makes a judgment to allow enforcement of the subject matter of the enforcement of an enforcement objection lawsuit, the enforcement objection ruling shall become invalid, and the enforcement court may resume enforcement on the basis of the application of the applicant for enforcement or ex officio.
Article 315:During the trial period of a lawsuit in which a person not involved in the case objects to enforcement, the people's court must not dispose of the subject matter of enforcement. Where the person applying for enforcement requests that the people's court continue enforcement and provide corresponding guarantees, the people's court may permit it.
Where the person subject to enforcement maliciously colludes with a person not involved in the case to obstruct enforcement through an enforcement objection or enforcement objection lawsuit, the people's court shall handle it in accordance with article 113 of the Civil Procedure Law. If the person applying for enforcement suffers harm as a result, he may file a lawsuit to demand compensation from the person subject to enforcement or a person not involved in the case.
Article 316:After a people's court rules to suspend enforcement of the subject matter of enforcement, the person applying for enforcement does not raise a lawsuit against enforcement within the period prescribed by law, the people's court shall lift the enforcement measures taken against the subject matter of enforcement within 7 days of the expiration of the time limit for initiating litigation.
XVI. Second-instance trial procedures
Article 317:Where both parties and a third party raise an appeal, they are both listed as appellants. The people's courts may, in accordance with their authority, determine the litigation status of the parties in the second-instance trial procedures.
Article 318:The opposing parties provided for in articles 166 and 167 of the Civil Procedure Law include the appellee and other parties to the original trial.
Article 319:Where one or some of the necessary joint litigants raise an appeal, it is to be handled in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where the appeal only has opinions on the division of rights and obligations with the opposing party, and does not involve the interests of other joint litigants, the opposing party is the appellee, and the same party that has not appealed is listed according to the place of litigation of the original trial;
(2) Where the appeal only has opinions on the division of rights and obligations between the joint litigants, and does not involve the interests of the opposing party, the same party that has not appealed is the appellee, and the opposing party is listed in accordance with the original litigation location;
(3) Where the appeal has opinions on the assumption of rights and obligations between the parties and the joint litigants, the other parties who have not filed an appeal are the appellees.
Article 320:Where a party orally expresses an appeal when the first-instance judgment is pronounced or when the judgment or ruling is served, the people's court shall inform them that they must submit an appeal petition within the legally-prescribed appeal period. If the appeal petition is not submitted within the statutory appeal period, it shall be deemed that no appeal has been filed. If the appeal petition is submitted but the appeal fee is not paid within the specified time limit, the appeal shall be automatically withdrawn.
Article 321:The legally-designated representatives of persons who lack or have limited capacity for civil conduct may file appeals on behalf of the parties.
Article 322:Where a party to an appeal case dies or is terminated, the people's court is to notify the successor of his rights and obligations to participate in the litigation in accordance with law.
Where it is necessary to conclude litigation, the provisions of article 151 of the Civil Procedure Law apply.
Article 323:The second-instance trial court shall conduct trial around the parties' appeal requests.
Where the parties have not submitted a request, it is not to be heard, except where the first-instance judgment violates legal prohibitions, or harms the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others.
Article 324:In appeal cases where in-court proceedings are held, the second-instance trial court may follow the provisions of article 133(4) of the Civil Procedure Law to make pre-trial preparations.
Article 325:The following circumstances may be found to be a serious violation of legally-prescribed procedures as provided for in item (4) of the first paragraph of article 170 of the Civil Procedure Law:
(1) The composition of the trial organization is unlawful;
(2) The adjudicator who should be recused has not recused himself;
(3) A person who lacks capacity for litigation has not been represented by a legally-designated representative;
(4) Unlawfully depriving parties of their right to debate.
Article 326:Where the original people's court has not made a trial or judgment on litigation claims that have already been raised by parties in the first-instance trial procedures, the second-instance trial court may conduct mediation on the basis of the principle of the parties' voluntariness; If mediation fails, the case shall be remanded for retrial.
Article 327:Where parties who must participate in litigation or third parties with independent claims do not participate in the litigation during the first-instance trial procedures, the second-instance trial court may mediate on the basis of the principle of the parties' voluntariness; If mediation fails, the case shall be remanded for retrial.
Article 328:Where in the second-instance trial procedures, the plaintiff in the original trial adds an independent litigation claim or the defendant in the original trial raises a counterclaim, the second-instance trial court may conduct mediation on the newly added litigation claim or counterclaim on the basis of the parties' voluntariness; If mediation fails, inform the parties to file a separate lawsuit.
Where both parties agree that the second-instance trial court will hear the case together, the second-instance trial court may make a joint judgment.
Article 329:In cases where a first-instance trial judgment does not grant a divorce, and after appeal, the second-instance trial court finds that a divorce should be decided, it may, on the basis of the principle of the parties' voluntariness, mediate together with child support and property issues; If mediation fails, the case shall be remanded for retrial.
Where both parties agree that the second-instance trial court will hear the case together, the second-instance trial court may make a joint judgment.
Article 330:Where people's courts hear cases in accordance with the second-instance trial procedures and find that the people's courts should not accept them in accordance with law, the second-instance trial court may directly rule to revoke the original judgment and reject the lawsuit.
Article 331:Where people's courts hear cases in accordance with the second-instance trial procedures, and find that the first-instance trial court's acceptance of the case violates the provisions on exclusive jurisdiction, it shall rule to revoke the original judgment and transfer it to the people's court with jurisdiction.
Article 332:Where the second-instance trial court ascertains that the first-instance trial court's decision not to accept the case was in error, it shall order the first-instance trial court to file and accept the case at the same time as revoking the original ruling; Where it is ascertained that the first-instance trial court's ruling to reject the prosecution is in error, the first-instance trial court shall be ordered to hear the case at the same time as the original ruling is revoked.
Article 333:Second-instance people's courts may not hold in-court proceedings in the following appellate cases in accordance with article 169 of the Civil Procedure Law:
(1) Dissatisfied with a ruling not to accept a lawsuit, to raise objections to jurisdiction, or to reject a lawsuit;
(2) The appeal request submitted by the parties is clearly unsustainable;
(3) The facts ascertained in the original judgment or ruling were clear, but the law was erroneously applied;
(4) The original judgment seriously violated legally-prescribed procedures and needs to be remanded for new trial.
Article 334:Where the facts ascertained in the original judgment or ruling or the application of law are flawed, but the judgment result is correct, the second-instance trial court may, after correcting the flaws in the judgment or ruling, uphold it in accordance with article 170, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 335:The basic facts provided for in item (3) of the first paragraph of article 170 of the Civil Procedure Law refer to facts that have a substantial impact on the outcome of the original judgment or ruling, such as the qualifications of the parties, the nature of the case, and civil rights and obligations.
Article 336:Where a legal person or other organization that is a party is separated during the second-instance trial procedures, the people's court may directly list the separated legal person or other organization as a joint litigant; In the case of a merger, the merged legal person or other organization shall be listed as a party.
Article 337:Where, during the second-instance trial procedures, parties apply to withdraw the appeal, and upon review the people's court finds that the first-instance judgment is truly in error, or that there is malicious collusion between the parties to harm the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others, it shall not be permitted.
Article 338:Where, during the second-instance trial procedures, the plaintiff in the original trial applies to withdraw the lawsuit, and upon the consent of the other parties, and it does not harm the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others, the people's court may permit it. Where the withdrawal of the lawsuit is permitted, a ruling shall be made to revoke the first-instance judgment together.
Where the plaintiff in the original trial withdraws the lawsuit during the second-instance trial procedures and then files a lawsuit repeatedly, the people's court will not accept it.
Article 339:Where the parties reach a settlement agreement during the second-instance trial procedures, the people's court may, at the request of the parties, conduct a review of the settlement agreement reached by both parties and draft a mediation document to serve on the parties; Where an application for withdrawal of a lawsuit is made as a result of settlement, and upon review the requirements for withdrawal are met, the people's court shall permit it.
Article 340:Second-instance trial courts announcing judgments may announce the judgment on their own, and may also retain the original people's court or the people's court for the location of the parties to announce the judgment on their behalf.
Article 341:People's courts hearing appeals against rulings shall make a final judgment within 30 days of filing the second-instance trial. Where there are special circumstances that require an extension of the time limit for trial, the president of that court is to approve it.
Article 342:Litigation conduct carried out by a party in the first-instance trial procedures is still binding on that party in the second-instance trial procedures.
When a party overturns the litigation conduct carried out in the first-instance trial procedures, the people's court shall order it to explain the reasons. Where the reasons are not sustained, it is not supported.
XVII. Special Procedures
Article 343:In cases where a person is declared missing or declared dead, the people's court may, at the request of the applicant, clear the property of the person whose whereabouts are unknown, and designate a person to manage the property during the trial of the case. Where after the public notice period is completed, the people's court makes a judgment declaring the missing person to be missing, it shall concurrently designate a custodian of the missing person's property in accordance with article 42 of the Civil Code.
Article 344:Where after the custodian of the missing person's property is appointed by the people's court, the custodian applies to change the custodianship, trial is to be conducted mutatis mutandis in accordance with the relevant provisions of the special procedures of the Civil Procedure Law. If the reasons for the application are sustained, a ruling shall be made to revoke the applicant's status as a custodian, and at the same time appoint another property custodian; If the reasons for the application are not sustained, a ruling shall be made to reject the application.
Where other interested parties of the missing person apply for a change in custody, the people's court shall inform them that the originally designated custodian is the defendant to file a lawsuit, and conduct trial in accordance with ordinary procedures.
Article 345:After a people's court makes a judgment declaring a citizen missing, and the interested party applies to the people's court for a declaration of the missing person's death, and four years have elapsed since the date of disappearance, the people's court shall accept it, and the judgment declaring the missing person is proof of the citizen's disappearance, and the announcement should still be made in accordance with article 185 of the Civil Procedure Law during trial.
Article 346:Where multiple interested parties that meet the requirements of the law submit an application for a declaration of disappearance or death, they are to be listed as co-applicants.
Article 347: Announcements to search for persons whose whereabouts are unknown shall record the following content:
(1) The respondent shall, within the prescribed period, declare its specific address and contact information to the court accepting it. Otherwise, the respondent will be declared missing or dead;
(2) Any person who is aware of the current situation of the respondent shall report what he knows to the court accepting the application within the period of public announcement.
Article 348:After a people's court accepts a case of a declaration of disappearance or death, but before making a judgment, the applicant withdraws the application, the people's court shall rule to conclude the case, except where other interested parties who meet the requirements of law join the procedures and request continued trial.
Article 349:In litigation, where a party's interested party submits that the party suffers from mental illness and requests that the party be declared incapable of civil conduct or has limited capacity for civil conduct, the interested party shall submit an application to the people's court, and the people's court receiving the lawsuit is to file the case for trial in accordance with special procedures, and the original litigation is suspended.
Article 350:In cases where property is found to be ownerless, where someone makes a request for the property during the announcement period, the people's court shall rule to terminate the special procedures, inform the applicant to file a separate lawsuit, and apply the ordinary procedures at trial.
Article 351:Where the designated guardian is not satisfied with the designation of a residents' committee, villagers' committee, or civil affairs department, he shall submit an objection to the people's court within 30 days of receiving the notice. If, after trial, it is found that the designation is not improper, a ruling is made to reject the objection; where the designation is improper, a judgment is to be made to revoke the designation, and at the same time appoint another guardian. The written judgment shall be served on the objector, the unit originally designated, and the guardian appointed by the judgment.
Where relevant parties directly apply to the people's court for the appointment of a guardian in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 31 of the Civil Code, special procedures are to be applied at trial and a judgment is made to appoint a guardian. The written judgment shall be served on the applicant and the guardian designated by the judgment.
Article 352:In cases where an application is made to determine that a citizen lacks or has limited capacity for civil conduct, and the subject of the application has no close relatives, the people's court may designate an individual or organization that has the consent of the residents' committee, villagers' committee, or civil affairs department for the place where the respondent is domiciled, and is willing to serve as an agent, as the agent.
Where there is no agent provided for in the preceding paragraph, the residents' committee, villagers' committee, or civil affairs department for the place where the respondent is domiciled serves as the agent.
The surrogate can be one person or two people in the same order.
Article 353:Where an application is made for judicial confirmation of a mediation agreement, both parties shall submit an application to the basic level people's court or people's courtroom for the location of the mediation organization in person or by an agent who meets the requirements of article 58 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 354:Where two or more mediation organizations participate in mediation, the basic level people's courts for the location of each mediation organization have jurisdiction.
Both parties may jointly apply to the basic people's court where one of the mediation organizations is located; Where both parties jointly submit an application to the basic level people's court for the location of two or more mediation organizations, the people's court that first files the case has jurisdiction.
Article 355:Parties applying for judicial confirmation of a mediation agreement may use written or oral form. Where parties apply orally, the people's court shall record it in the record, and the parties are to sign, affirm a seal, or affix a seal.
Article 356:When parties apply for judicial confirmation of a mediation agreement, they shall submit to the people's court materials such as the mediation agreement, proof that the mediation organization presided over the mediation, and proof of property rights related to the mediation agreement, and provide basic information such as the identity, residence, and contact information of both parties.
Where the parties do not submit the materials described above, the people's court shall require the parties to make up for them within a set period of time.
Article 357:In any of the following circumstances, the people's court rules not to accept a party's application for judicial confirmation of a mediation agreement:
(1) It is not within the scope of acceptance by the people's courts;
(2) It is not within the jurisdiction of the people's court receiving the application;
(3) Where an application is made to confirm that a marital relationship, parent-child relationship, adoption relationship, or other status relationship is invalid, valid, or dissolved;
(4) It involves the application of other special procedures, publicity and reminder procedures, or bankruptcy proceedings;
(5) The content of the mediation agreement involves the confirmation of property rights and intellectual property rights.
Where, after accepting an application, a people's court discovers that there are any of the circumstances described above that it will not be accepted, it shall rule to reject the party's application.
Article 358:When people's courts review relevant circumstances, they shall notify both parties to jointly appear to verify the case.
Where, upon review, the people's court finds that a party's statement or the supporting materials provided are insufficient, incomplete, or doubtful, it may request that the party supplement the statement or supplementary supporting materials within a set period of time. When necessary, the people's court may verify the relevant circumstances with the mediation organization.
Article 359:Where a party withdraws the application before a ruling confirming the mediation agreement is made, the people's court may rule to allow it.
Where parties fail to supplement their statements or supporting materials within the time limit without a legitimate reason, or refuse to accept questioning, the people's court may handle it as a withdrawal of the application.
Article 360:Where, upon review, the mediation agreement has any of the following circumstances, the people's court shall rule to reject the application:
(1) Violating mandatory provisions of law;
(2) harming the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others;
(3) Violating public order and good customs;
(4) Violating the principle of voluntariness;
(5) The content is unclear;
(6) Other situations where judicial confirmation cannot be conducted.
Article 361:Holders of security interests as provided for in Article 196 of the Civil Procedure Law include mortgagees, pledgees, and liens; Other persons who have the right to request the realization of the security interest, including the mortgagor, the pledgor, the debtor or the owner of the property lien, etc.
Article 362:In cases of realizing the pledge of rights with certificates of rights, such as bills, warehouse receipts, bills of lading, etc., the people's court at the place where the holder of the certificate of rights is domiciled may have jurisdiction; The pledge of rights without proof of rights shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court at the place where the pledge is registered.
Article 363:Where a case of realization of a security interest falls within the jurisdiction of a maritime court or other specialized people's court, the specialized people's court shall have jurisdiction.
Article 364:Where there are multiple collaterals for the same creditor's right and the locations are different, and the applicant separately applies to the people's court with jurisdiction to realize the security interest, the people's court shall accept it in accordance with law.
Article 365:In accordance with the provisions of Article 392 of the Civil Code, where the secured creditor's rights are secured by both real security and personal security, and the parties have agreed on the order in which the security interest is realized, and the application for the realization of the security interest violates such agreement, the people's court shall rule not to accept it; Where there is no agreement or the agreement is unclear, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 366:Where multiple security interests are established on the same property, and the security interest registered earlier has not yet been realized, it does not affect the subsequent security interest holder to apply to the people's court for the realization of the security interest.
Article 367 The following materials shall be submitted to apply for the realization of a security interest:
(1) Application. The application shall clearly indicate the name and contact information of the applicant and the respondent, as well as the specific request, facts and reasons;
(2) Materials proving the existence of the security interest, including the main contract, the guarantee contract, the mortgage registration certificate or other rights certificates, the right certificate of the pledge of rights or the registration certificate of the pledge of the pledge, etc.;
(3) materials proving the achievement of the conditions for the realization of the security interest;
(4) An explanation of the current status of the secured property;
(5) Other materials that the people's court finds necessary to submit.
Article 368:After the people's court accepts the application, it shall serve a copy of the application, notice of objection rights, and other documents to the subject of the application within 5 days.
Where the respondent has objections, it shall submit them to the people's court within 5 days of receiving the notice from the people's court, and at the same time explain the reasons and provide corresponding evidentiary materials.
Article 369:Cases of realization of security interests may be reviewed by a single adjudicator. Where the amount of the subject matter of the secured property exceeds the jurisdiction of the basic level people's court, a collegial panel shall be formed to conduct a review.
Article 370:When reviewing a case of realization of a security interest, a people's court may question the applicant, the respondent, and interested parties, and when necessary, may investigate the relevant facts ex officio.
Article 371: The people's court shall conduct a review of the conditions for the realization of the security interest, such as the validity, duration, and performance of the main contract, whether the security interest is validly established, the scope of the secured property, the scope of the secured creditor's right, and whether the secured creditor's right has expired, as well as whether the lawful rights and interests of others have been harmed.
Where the subject of the application or interested parties raise objections, the people's courts shall review them together.
Article 372:After review by the people's courts, it is to be handled in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where the parties have no substantive dispute over the realization of the security interest and the conditions for the realization of the security interest are fulfilled, a ruling is made to permit the auction or sale of the secured property;
(2) If the parties have a partial substantive dispute over the realization of the security interest, they may make a ruling to allow the auction or sale of the secured property for the part that is not in dispute;
(3) If the parties have a substantive dispute over the realization of the security interest, they shall rule to reject the application and inform the applicant to file a lawsuit with the people's court.
Article 373:After the people's court accepts the application, if the applicant submits an application for preservation of the secured property, it may be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law on litigation preservation.
Article 374:Where parties or interested parties find that a judgment or ruling made using special procedures is in error, they may raise an objection to the people's court that made the judgment or ruling. Where upon review, the people's court finds that the objection is sustained or partially sustained, it is to make a new judgment or ruling to revoke or modify the original judgment or ruling; If the objection is not sustained, a ruling is made to reject it.
If the parties have objections to the people's court's ruling confirming the mediation agreement and allowing the realization of the security interest, they shall submit it within 15 days from the date of receipt of the ruling; Where interested parties have objections, they are to do so within 6 months from the date on which they knew or should have known that their civil rights and interests had been infringed.
XVIII. Trial Supervision Procedures
Article 375:Where a party dies or is terminated, the successor to its rights and obligations may apply for a retrial in accordance with articles 199 and 201 of the Civil Procedure Law.
After the judgment or mediation document takes effect, if the parties transfer the creditor's rights confirmed by the judgment or mediation document, and the transferee of the creditor's rights is dissatisfied with the judgment or mediation document and applies for a retrial, the people's court shall not accept it.
Article 376:A party with a large number of people as provided for in article 199 of the Civil Procedure Law, including citizens, legal persons, and other organizations.
The case provided for in article 199 of the Civil Procedure Law where both parties are citizens refers to cases in which both the plaintiff and the defendant are citizens.
Article 377:Parties applying for retrial shall submit the following materials:
(1) The application for retrial, and submit copies in accordance with the number of the respondent and other parties to the original trial;
(2) Where the applicant for retrial is a natural person, proof of identity shall be submitted; Where the applicant for retrial is a legal person or other organization, the business license, organization code certificate, and proof of identity of the legally-designated representative or principle responsible person shall be submitted. Where another person is entrusted to apply on their behalf, a power of attorney and proof of the agent's identity shall be submitted;
(3) The original judgment, ruling, or mediation document;
(4) Main evidence and other materials reflecting the basic facts of the case.
The materials provided for in items 2, 3, and 4 of the preceding paragraph may be photocopies that are no different from the originals.
Article 378:The application for retrial shall indicate the following matters:
(1) Basic information on the applicant for retrial, the subject of the application, and the other parties to the original trial;
(2) The name of the original people's court and the case number of the original judgment document;
(3) Specific requests for retrial;
(4) The legally-prescribed circumstances of the application for retrial, as well as the specific facts and reasons.
The written application for retrial shall clearly indicate the people's court applying for retrial, and the retrial applicant shall sign, affix a seal, or affirm a seal.
Article 379:In cases where one party has a large number of parties or both parties are citizens, and the parties separately apply to the original people's court and the people's court at the level above for retrial and cannot reach a consensus through consultation, the original people's court is to accept it.
Article 380:In cases that apply special procedures, supervision procedures, publicity and reminder procedures, bankruptcy procedures, or other non-litigation procedures, parties must not apply for retrial.
Article 381:Where parties feel that a legally effective ruling not to accept or reject a lawsuit is in error, they may apply for a retrial.
Article 382:Where parties apply for a retrial on the issue of division of property in a divorce case, if it involves property that has already been divided in the judgment, the people's court shall conduct a review in accordance with article 200 of the Civil Procedure Law, and where the requirements for retrial are met, it shall rule for a retrial; If it involves the joint property of the husband and wife that has not been disposed of in the judgment, the parties shall be informed to file a separate lawsuit.
Article 383:In any of the following circumstances, the people's court will not accept a party's application for retrial:
(1) After the application for retrial is rejected, another application is submitted;
(2) An application is made for a retrial judgment or ruling;
(3) Submitting an application after the people's procuratorate has made a procuratorial recommendation not to submit a retrial or a procuratorial counter-appeal decision on a party's application.
In the circumstances provided for in items (1) and (2) of the preceding paragraph, the people's courts shall inform the parties that they may apply to the people's procuratorate for a retrial procuratorial suggestion or procuratorial counter-appeal, except for judgments or rulings made at retrial as a result of the people's procuratorate's submission of a procuratorial suggestion for retrial or procuratorial counter-appeal.
Article 384:Parties applying for a retrial of a mediation document that has already taken legal effect shall submit it within 6 months of the mediation document taking legal effect.
Article 385:The people's court shall send a notice of acceptance to the retrial applicant within 5 days of receiving the retrial application and other materials that meet the requirements, and send the respondent and other parties to the original trial a notice to respond to the lawsuit, a copy of the retrial application, and other materials.
Article 386:After people's courts accept applications for retrial, they shall conduct a review of the grounds for retrial asserted by the parties in accordance with articles 200, 201, 204, and other provisions of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 387:Where new evidence provided by the applicant for retrial can prove that the original judgment or ruling found the basic facts or the judgment result was erroneous, it shall be found to be a circumstance provided for in paragraph 1 of article 200 of the Civil Procedure Law.
For evidence that meets the requirements of the preceding paragraph, the people's court shall order the retrial applicant to explain the reasons for providing the evidence within the time limit; Where there is a refusal to explain the reasons or the reasons are not sustained, it is to be handled in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 65 of the Civil Procedure Law and article 102 of this interpretation.
Article 388:Where retrial applicants prove that the new evidence they submitted meets any of the following circumstances, it may be found that the reasons for the late provision of evidence are sustained:
(1) It already existed before the conclusion of the original trial, but was discovered after the trial was completed for objective reasons;
(2) It was discovered before the end of the original trial, but it could not be obtained for objective reasons or could not be provided within the prescribed time period;
(3) It was formed after the conclusion of the original trial and there is no way to separately file a lawsuit on that basis.
Where the evidence submitted by the applicant for retrial has already been provided in the original trial, but the original people's court did not organize debate and did not use it as the basis for the judgment, it is to be viewed that the reasons for providing evidence within the time limit are sustained, except where the original people's court did not accept it in accordance with article 65 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 389:Where parties refuse to express their opinions on the main evidence of the facts ascertained in the original judgment or ruling in the original trial, or do not express opinions on the evidence during the debate, it is not a situation where there is no debate as provided for in article 200(4) of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 390:In any of the following circumstances, resulting in an erroneous judgment or ruling, it shall be found that the original judgment or ruling provided for in item 6 of article 200 of the Civil Procedure Law truly erroneously applied the law:
(1) The applicable law is clearly inconsistent with the nature of the case;
(2) The determination of civil liability clearly violates the parties' agreement or the provisions of law;
(3) Applying laws that have already lapsed or have not yet come into force;
(4) Violating the provisions of the law on retroactivity;
(5) Violating the rules applicable to law;
(6) Clearly violating the original intent of the legislation.
Article 391:In any of the following circumstances during the course of the original trial, it shall be found to be a deprivation of the parties' right to debate as provided for in item 9 of article 200 of the Civil Procedure Law:
(1) The parties are not allowed to express their argumentative opinions;
(2) Where in-court proceedings should be held but in-court proceedings are not held;
(3) Violating the provisions of law by serving a copy of the complaint or appeal, making it impossible for the parties to exercise their right to debate;
(4) Other situations where parties are unlawfully deprived of their right to debate.
Article 392:Litigation demands provided for in article 200, item 11 of the Civil Procedure Law, include first-instance litigation claims and second-instance appeal requests, except where parties have not appealed against the omission of the first-instance judgment or ruling or the exceedance of the litigation demands.
Article 393:The legal documents provided for in article 200, item 12 of the Civil Procedure Law include:
(1) Judgments, rulings, or mediation documents that have taken legal effect;
(2) a legally effective arbitral award;
(3) Notarized creditor's rights documents with enforceable effect.
Article 394:Adjudicators as provided for in article 200, paragraph 13 of the Civil Procedure Law have conduct of embezzlement or bribery, twisting the law for personal gain, or perverting the law when trying the case, refers to conduct that has already been confirmed by effective criminal legal documents or disciplinary sanction decisions.
Article 395:Where the grounds for retrial asserted by the parties are sustained, and the requirements for applying for retrial as provided for in the Civil Procedure Law and this Interpretation are met, the people's court shall rule for a retrial.
Where the grounds for retrial asserted by the parties are not sustained, or where the parties' application for retrial exceeds the legally-prescribed time limit for applying for retrial, exceeds the scope of the legally-prescribed grounds for retrial, and so forth, does not meet the requirements for applying for retrial as provided for in the Civil Procedure Law and this Interpretation, the people's court shall rule to reject the application for retrial.
Article 396:Where a people's court decides to retry a judgment, ruling, or mediation document that has already taken legal effect, and it is necessary to suspend enforcement in accordance with article 206 of the Civil Procedure Law, it shall indicate in the retrial ruling that the enforcement of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document is to be suspended; Where the situation is urgent, the people's court responsible for enforcement may be given oral notice of the ruling to suspend enforcement, and the written ruling may be issued within 10 days of the notice.
Article 397:People's courts decide whether to question parties as needed to review the case. Where new evidence might overturn the original judgment or ruling, the people's court shall question the parties.
Article 398:Where, during the period of review of an application for retrial, the subject of the application and other parties to the original trial submit an application for retrial in accordance with law, the people's court shall list them as applicants for retrial, review the reasons for their retrial together, and recalculate the period for review. Where, upon review, the grounds for retrial asserted by one of the retrial applicants are sustained, a retrial shall be ruled. Where the grounds for retrial asserted by all parties to the retrial applicants are not sustained, a joint ruling is to be made to reject the retrial application.
Article 399:Where, during the period of review of an application for retrial, the retrial applicant applies to the people's court to entrust an evaluation or inquest, the people's court will not approve it.
Article 400: Where during the period of review of an application for retrial, the retrial applicant withdraws the application for retrial, the people's court is to rule on whether or not to allow it.
Where the applicant for retrial is summoned by summons and refuses to accept questioning without a legitimate reason, it may be handled as a withdrawal of the application for retrial.
Article 401:After a people's court permits the withdrawal of an application for retrial or handles it as a withdrawal of the application for retrial, the retrial applicant applies for retrial again, it is not to be accepted, except in the circumstances provided for in items 1, 3, 12, or 13 of article 200 of the Civil Procedure Law, and it is submitted within 6 months from the date on which it was known or should have been known.
Article 402:In any of the following circumstances during the period of review of an application for retrial, a ruling is made to conclude the review:
(1) The applicant for retrial dies or is terminated, and there is no successor to rights and obligations, or the successor to rights and obligations declares that they have waived the application for retrial;
(2) In a lawsuit for payment, the respondent who has the obligation to pay dies or is terminated, and there is no property available for enforcement, and there is no person who should bear the obligation;
(3) Where the parties have reached a settlement agreement and performance has been completed, except where the parties declare in the settlement agreement that they do not waive their right to apply for retrial;
(4) Where others apply for retrial in the name of a party without authorization;
(5) The original trial or the people's court at the level above has already ruled for a retrial;
(6) There are circumstances provided for in paragraph 1 of article 383 of this interpretation.
Article 403:People's courts hearing retrial cases shall form a collegial panel to hold in-court proceedings, except where there are special circumstances or where both parties have already fully expressed their opinions through other means, and have agreed in writing not to hold in-court proceedings.
Where the requirements for a default judgment are met, a default judgment may be made.
Article 404:People's courts holding in-court proceedings to hear retrial cases shall proceed in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where a party applies for a retrial, the retrial applicant is to first state the request for retrial and the reasons, and then the respondent is to reply and the other parties to the original trial are to express their opinions;
(2) Where a retrial is due to a prosecutorial counter-appeal, the procuratorial counter-appeal organ is to first read out the written counter-appeal, then the party applying for the procuratorial counter-appeal is to make a statement, and then the respondent is to reply and the other parties to the original trial are to express their opinions;
(3) Where the people's court is retried ex officio, and there is an appellant, the appellant is to first state the request for retrial and the reasons, and then the respondent is to reply and the other parties to the original trial are to express their opinions;
(4) Where the people's court retries ex officio, and there is no appellant, the plaintiff or appellant in the original trial is to first make a statement, and then the other parties to the original trial are to express their opinions.
In the circumstances provided for in items (1) through (3) of the preceding paragraph, the people's courts shall require the parties to clarify their requests for retrial.
Article 405:People's courts hearing retrial cases shall revolve around the request for retrial. Where a party's request for retrial exceeds the original litigation claim, it is not to be heard; Where the requirements for litigation in a separate case are met, inform the parties that they may file a separate lawsuit.
Where the request for retrial submitted by the respondent and other parties to the original trial before the conclusion of trial debate meets the requirements of article 205 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall hear it together.
Where, upon retrial, a people's court discovers that a judgment or ruling that has already taken legal effect harms the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others, it shall hear it together.
Article 406:In any of the following circumstances during the period of retrial trial, a ruling may be made to conclude the retrial procedures:
(1) The applicant for retrial withdraws the request for retrial during the period of retrial, and the people's court permits it;
(2) Where the retrial applicant is summoned by summons and refuses to appear in court without a legitimate reason, or leaves court without the court's permission, it is to be handled as a withdrawal of the retrial request;
(3) The people's procuratorate withdraws the prosecutorial counter-appeal;
(4) There are circumstances provided for in items 1 through 4 of article 402 of this interpretation.
In cases where the people's procuratorate has raised a procuratorial counter-appeal and rules for retrial, where the party applying for a procuratorial counter-appeal has the circumstances provided for in the preceding paragraph, and it does not harm the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others, the people's court shall rule to end the retrial procedures.
After the retrial procedures are concluded, the people's court rules to suspend enforcement of the original effective judgment automatically reinstated.
Article 407:Where upon retrial the people's court finds that the facts ascertained in the original judgment or ruling are clear and the law is correctly applied, it shall be upheld; Where the facts ascertained in the original judgment or ruling or the application of law are flawed, but the judgment result is correct, it shall be upheld after correcting the flaws in the retrial judgment or ruling.
Where the original judgment or ruling was incorrect in ascertaining facts or applying law, resulting in an erroneous judgment result, the judgment shall be changed, revoked, or modified in accordance with law.
Article 408:In cases retried in accordance with the second-instance trial procedures, where upon trial the people's court finds that the requirements for initiating litigation as provided for in the Civil Procedure Law are not met or that the circumstances of inadmissibility as provided for in article 124 of the Civil Procedure Law are met, it shall rule to revoke the first- and second-instance judgment and reject the lawsuit.
Article 409:After a people's court rules on a retrial of a mediation document, it is to be handled in accordance with the following distinct circumstances:
(1) Where the grounds raised by the parties for mediation violating the principle of voluntariness are not established, and the content of the mediation document does not violate the mandatory provisions of law, a ruling is made to reject the application for retrial;
(2) Where the reasons for harming the national interest or societal public interest asserted by the people's procuratorate's prosecutorial counter-appeal or retrial procuratorial recommendation are not sustained, rule to end the retrial procedures.
Under the circumstances provided for in the preceding paragraph, where the people's court rules that the enforcement of the mediation document suspended needs to be continued, enforcement is to be automatically resumed.
Article 410:Where first-instance trial plaintiffs apply to withdraw a lawsuit during the retrial trial procedures, and with the consent of the other parties, and it does not harm the national interest, the societal public interest, or the lawful rights and interests of others, the people's court may permit it. Where a ruling is made to permit the withdrawal of the lawsuit, the original judgment shall be revoked as well.
Where the first-instance plaintiff withdraws the lawsuit during the retrial trial procedures and then repeats the lawsuit, the people's court will not accept it.
Article 411:Where parties submit new evidence that causes the retrial judgment to be changed, and the retrial applicant or the party applying for procuratorial supervision fails to present evidence in a timely manner in the original trial procedures due to the fault of the applicant for retrial or the party applying for procuratorial supervision, and the subject of the application or other parties request compensation for their increased necessary expenses such as transportation, lodging, meals, or lost work, the people's court shall support it.
Article 412:Where some of the parties appear in court and reach a mediation agreement, but the other parties do not make a written expression, the people's court shall make an expression of that fact in the judgment; Where the content of the mediation agreement does not violate legal provisions and does not harm the lawful rights and interests of other parties, it may be confirmed in the main text of the judgment.
Article 413: If the People's Procuratorate raises a protest against a legally effective judgment, ruling, or mediation document that harms the national interest or the public interest in accordance with the law, or submits a procuratorial suggestion for retrial after discussion and decision by the Procuratorial Committee of the People's Procuratorate, the People's Court shall accept it.
Article 414: If the People's Procuratorate raises a protest against a judgment that has already taken legal effect or a ruling not to accept or reject the prosecution in accordance with the law, the People's Court shall accept it, except for judgments and rulings that do not apply the trial supervision procedures, such as special procedures, supervision procedures, public announcement and reminder procedures, bankruptcy procedures, and judgments and rulings on the dissolution of marital relations.
Article 415: Where the People's Procuratorate raises a procuratorial counter-appeal or retrial procuratorial suggestion against a clearly erroneous retrial judgment or ruling in accordance with Article 209, Paragraph 1, Item 3 of the Civil Procedure Law, the People's Court shall accept it.
Article 416: Where a local People's Procuratorate submits a procuratorial suggestion for retrial to the people's court at the same level on an effective judgment or ruling on the basis of a party's application, it shall accept it if the following conditions are met:
(1) The procuratorial recommendation for retrial, the original trial parties' applications, and relevant evidentiary materials have already been submitted;
(2) The subject of a recommendation for retrial is a judgment or ruling that may be retried in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law and this interpretation;
(3) The procuratorial recommendation for retrial indicates that the judgment or ruling has the circumstances provided for in paragraph 2 of article 208 of the Civil Procedure Law;
(4) Circumstances that meet the requirements of items (1) and (2) of the first paragraph of article 209 of the Civil Procedure Law;
(5) The procuratorial recommendation for retrial is to be discussed and decided upon by the procuratorial committee of that people's procuratorate.
Where the provisions of the preceding paragraph are not met, the people's court may recommend that the people's procuratorate supplement and correct it or withdraw it; Where it is not supplemented or corrected or withdrawn, the people's procuratorate shall be notified in writing not to accept it.
Article 417: If the People's Procuratorate raises a prosecutorial counter-appeal against an effective judgment or ruling on the application of a party, and the following conditions are met, the People's Court shall rule for a retrial within 30 days:
(1) The written counter-appeal, the original trial parties' applications, and relevant evidentiary materials have already been submitted;
(2) The object of the prosecutorial counter-appeal is a judgment or ruling that may be retried in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law and this interpretation;
(3) The written protest clearly states that the judgment or ruling has the circumstances provided for in the first paragraph of article 208 of the Civil Procedure Law;
(4) Circumstances that meet the requirements of items (1) and (2) of the first paragraph of article 209 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where the provisions of the preceding paragraph are not met, the people's court may recommend that the people's procuratorate supplement and correct it or withdraw it; Where it is not supplemented or withdrawn, the people's court may rule not to accept it.
Article 418: After a party's application for retrial is rejected by a higher level people's court, and the People's Procuratorate raises a prosecutorial counter-appeal against the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document, and the cause of the protest meets any of the circumstances provided for in Article 200, Paragraphs 1 to 5 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court accepting the protest may transfer the protest to the people's court at the next lower level for retrial.
Article 419:After the people's court receives a procuratorial suggestion for retrial, it shall form a collegial panel and conduct a review within three months, and where it is discovered that the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document is truly in error and needs to be retried, it shall rule for a retrial in accordance with article 198 of the Civil Procedure Law, and notify the parties; Where, upon review, it is decided not to retry, a written reply shall be made to the people's procuratorate.
Article 420:People's courts hearing cases where a people's procuratorate rules for retrial due to a people's procuratorate's prosecutorial counter-appeal or procuratorial suggestion are not affected by a ruling that has already been made to reject a party's application for retrial.
Article 421:People's courts holding in-court proceedings to hear prosecutorial counter-appeals shall notify the people's procuratorate, parties, and other litigation participants three days before the trial begins. The people's procuratorate at the same level or the people's procuratorate that raises a prosecutorial counter-appeal shall appoint personnel to appear in court.
The people's procuratorate's investigation and verification of the parties or persons not involved in the case as a result of the performance of legal supervision duties shall be submitted to the court and explained, and the parties are to debate the evidence.
Article 422:Where parties who must jointly conduct litigation do not participate in litigation for reasons that cannot be attributed to themselves or their agents ad litem, they may apply for a retrial within 6 months of the date on which they knew or should have known on the basis of article 200(8) of the Civil Procedure Law, except where the circumstances provided for in article 423 of this interpretation are met.
Where a people's court rules for a retrial as a result of an application by a party provided for in the preceding paragraph, and retries in accordance with the first-instance trial procedures, it shall add them as a party and make a new judgment or ruling; Where an agreement cannot be reached through mediation in accordance with the second-instance trial procedures, the original judgment or ruling shall be revoked and remanded for new trial, and they shall be added as a party at the time of retrial.
Article 423:On the basis of article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law, where persons not involved in the case are dissatisfied with the ruling rejecting their objection to enforcement, and feel that the content of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document was erroneous and harmed their civil rights and interests, they may apply to the people's court that made the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document for a retrial within 6 months of the date on which the ruling on objection to enforcement is served.
Article 424:Where, on the basis of article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law, after a people's court rules for a retrial, persons not involved in the case are necessary parties to the joint litigation, it is to be handled in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 422 of this interpretation.
Where persons not involved in the case are not necessary parties to joint litigation, the people's court will only hear the content of the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document that caused harm to their civil rights and interests. Where, after trial, the request for retrial is sustained, the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document is to be revoked or modified; Where the request for retrial is not sustained, the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document is to be maintained.
Article 425:Article 340 of this Interpretation applies to trial supervision procedures.
Article 426:Where parties apply to the original people's court for a retrial of a judgment or ruling in a small claims case for the reasons provided for in article 200 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall accept it. Where the grounds for applying for retrial are sustained, a retrial shall be ruled and a collegial panel shall be formed to conduct trial. The parties must not appeal a retrial judgment or ruling made.
Where parties apply to the original people's court for a retrial on the grounds that it should not be tried as a small claims case, the people's court shall accept it. where the reasons are sustained, a retrial shall be ruled and a collegial panel shall be formed for trial. The parties may appeal a retrial judgment or ruling.
19. Supervision procedures
Article 427:Where two or more people's courts have jurisdiction, creditors may apply to one of the basic people's courts for a payment order.
Where a creditor applies to two or more basic level people's courts with jurisdiction for a payment order, the people's court that files the case first has jurisdiction.
Article 428:After receiving the creditor's application for a payment order, the people's court finds that the application does not meet the requirements, it may notify the creditor to supplement and correct it within a set period of time. The people's court shall, within 5 days from the date of receipt of the supplementary materials, notify the creditor whether to accept the application.
Article 429:Where a creditor's application for a payment order meets the following conditions, the basic level people's court shall accept it and notify the creditor within 5 days of receiving the application for a payment order:
(1) Requests for payment of money or negotiable securities such as bills of exchange, promissory notes, checks, stocks, bonds, treasury bills, negotiable certificates of deposit, etc.;
(2) The amount of money or negotiable securities requested has matured and the amount is determined, and the facts and evidence on which the request is based are clearly stated;
(3) the creditor has no obligation to pay;
(4) the debtor is in mainland China and his whereabouts are unknown;
(5) the payment order can be served on the debtor;
(6) The people's court receiving the application has jurisdiction;
(7) The creditor fails to apply to the people's court for pre-litigation preservation.
Where the provisions of the preceding paragraph are not met, the people's court shall notify the creditor not to accept the application within 5 days of receiving the application for a payment order.
Basic level people's courts accepting applications for payment orders are not subject to restrictions on the amount of creditor's rights.
Article 430:After the people's court accepts the application, one adjudicator is to conduct a review. If, upon review, any of the following circumstances is present, a ruling is made to reject the application:
(1) The applicant does not have the qualifications to be a party;
(2) The supporting documents for the payment of money or negotiable securities do not stipulate the payment of interest, liquidated damages, or compensation for the time being, and the creditor insists on paying interest, liquidated damages, or compensation;
(3) The money or negotiable securities demanded to be paid are unlawful gains;
(4) The money or negotiable securities demanded to be paid have not yet matured or the amount is uncertain.
After the people's court accepts an application for a payment order, it discovers that it does not meet the requirements for acceptance as provided for in this interpretation, it shall rule to reject the application within 15 days of accepting it.
Article 431:Where a payment order is served on the debtor himself, and the debtor refuses to accept it, the people's court may retain the debtor for service.
Article 432:In any of the following circumstances, the people's court shall rule to end the supervision procedures, and where a payment order has already been issued, the payment order becomes invalid on its own:
(1) After the people's court accepts the application for a payment order, the creditor files another lawsuit on the same creditor's rights and debts;
(2) The debtor cannot be served within 30 days from the date on which the people's court issues the payment order;
(3) Before the debtor receives the payment order, the creditor withdraws the application.
Article 433 If, after receiving the payment order, the debtor does not raise a written objection within the statutory period, but files a lawsuit with another people's court, the validity of the payment order shall not be affected.
If the debtor raises an objection beyond the statutory time limit, it shall be deemed that no objection has been raised.
Article 434:Where a creditor submits multiple requests for payment to the debtor in the same application for a payment order based on the same creditor's rights and debts, and the debtor only raises objections to one or more of the requests, the validity of the other claims is not affected.
Article 435:Where a creditor submits a request for payment of a divisible debt to multiple debtors on the basis of the same creditor's rights and debts, and one or more of the debtors raises an objection, the validity of the other claims is not affected.
Article 436:A payment order issued against the principal debtor of a secured debt shall not be binding on the guarantor.
If the creditor files a separate lawsuit on the security relationship, the payment order shall become invalid from the date on which the people's court accepts the case.
Article 437:If, after formal examination, the debtor raises a written objection under any of the following circumstances, the objection shall be deemed to be sustained, a ruling shall be made to terminate the supervision procedure, and the payment order shall become invalid on its own:
(1) The circumstances of not accepting an application as provided for in this interpretation;
(2) The circumstances of a ruling rejecting an application as provided for in this Interpretation;
(3) The circumstances provided for in this Interpretation shall rule to terminate the supervision procedures;
(4) The people's court has reasonable doubts as to whether the conditions for issuing a payment order are met.
Article 438:Where the debtor has no objection to the debt itself, but only raises objections such as lack of solvency, postponement of the period for repayment of debts, or change of the method of repayment of debts, the validity of the payment order shall not be affected.
Where upon review the people's court finds that the objection is not sustained, it shall rule to reject it.
The debtor's oral objection is null and void.
Article 439:Where the debtor requests to withdraw the objection before the people's court makes a ruling to terminate the supervision procedure or reject the objection, it shall rule to allow it.
If the debtor repents of withdrawing the objection, the people's court will not support it.
Article 440:After the payment order becomes invalid, where the party applying for a payment order does not agree to initiate a lawsuit, it shall submit it to the people's court accepting the application within 7 days of receiving the ruling to end the urging procedures.
If the party applying for a payment order does not agree to initiate a lawsuit, it does not affect its filing of a lawsuit with another people's court with jurisdiction.
Article 441:After the payment order becomes invalid, where the party applying for the payment order does not indicate to the people's court accepting the application that it does not agree to initiate litigation within 7 days of receiving the ruling to terminate the supervision procedures, it is viewed as filing a lawsuit with the people's court accepting the application.
The time when the creditor files an application for a payment order is the time when the creditor files a lawsuit with the people's court.
Article 442:The provisions of article 239 of the Civil Procedure Law apply to the period for creditors to apply to the people's court for enforcement of payment orders.
Article 443:Where the president of a people's court discovers that a payment order that has already taken legal effect is truly in error and finds that it needs to be revoked, he shall submit it to the adjudication committee of that court for discussion and decision, and then rule to revoke the payment order and reject the creditor's application.
20. Procedures for public announcement and reminders
Article 444:The holder of negotiable instruments as provided for in article 218 of the Civil Procedure Law refers to the last holder of negotiable instruments before they are stolen, lost, or destroyed.
Article 445:After the people's court receives an application for a public notice, it shall immediately review it and decide whether to accept it. If upon review it is found that the conditions for acceptance are met, a notice shall be given to accept it, and the payer shall be notified to stop payment at the same time; where it is found that the requirements for acceptance are not met, a ruling is made to reject the application within 7 days.
Article 446:Where an application for publicity and reminder is made due to the loss of a negotiable instrument, the people's court shall decide whether to accept it in conjunction with evidence such as the stub of the negotiable instrument, a copy of the lost negotiable instrument, the drawer's certificate of issuance of the negotiable instrument, the applicant's proof of lawful acquisition of the negotiable instrument, the bank's notice of reporting the loss and stopping payment, and the certificate of reporting the case.
Article 447:People's courts issuing public notices of acceptance of applications in accordance with article 219 of the Civil Procedure Law shall clearly indicate the following content:
(1) Publicize the name or title of the applicant for the reminder;
(B) the type, number, face value, drawer, endorser, holder, payment deadline and other matters that can apply for publicity and reminder of the right certificate, number, scope of rights, right holder, obligor, exercise date and other matters;
(3) the period for declaring rights;
(4) The legal consequences of the transfer of bills and other rights certificates during the period of publicity and reminder, and the interested parties do not declare.
Article 448:The announcement shall be published in relevant newspapers or other media, and published on the people's court's bulletin board on the same day. Where there is a stock exchange at the location of the people's court, it shall also be announced on that exchange on the same day.
Article 449: The period of announcement shall not be less than 60 days, and the expiration date of the period of publicity and reminder shall not be earlier than 15 days after the date of payment of bills.
Article 450:After the declaration period is completed but before the judgment is made, where interested parties declare their rights, the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 221 of the Civil Procedure Law shall be applied.
Article 451: Where interested parties declare their rights, the people's court shall notify them to present the negotiable instrument to the court, and notify the applicant to make a public announcement and urge the applicant to view the negotiable instrument within a specified period. If the bills used by the applicant for publicity and reminder are inconsistent with the bills presented by the interested party, a ruling shall be made to reject the declaration of the interested party.
Article 452:Where no one declares their rights during the period for declaring rights, or the declaration is rejected, the applicant shall apply for a judgment within one month from the date of expiration of the period for public notice. Where a judgment is not applied for within the time limit, the procedures for public announcement and reminders are to be terminated.
Where a ruling is made to terminate the publicity and reminder procedures, the applicant and the payer shall be notified.
Article 453:From the date of the announcement of the judgment, the applicant shall be publicly reminded that the applicant has the right to request payment from the payer in accordance with the judgment.
Where the payer refuses to make payment and the applicant files a lawsuit with the people's court, and meets the requirements for initiating a lawsuit as provided for in article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall accept it.
Article 454:Cases applying the procedures for public notice and reminders may be tried by a single adjudicator; If a judgment declares the negotiable instrument invalid, a collegial panel shall be formed for trial.
Article 455: The applicant for a public notice to withdraw the application shall submit it before the public notice; Where an application for withdrawal is made during the period of publicity and reminder, the people's court may directly rule to end the procedures for publicity and reminder.
Article 456:People's courts notify payers to stop payment in accordance with article 220 of the Civil Procedure Law, and shall comply with the provisions on property preservation. Where the payer refuses to pay more than after receiving the notice to stop payment, the payer shall still bear the obligation to pay after the judgment is made, except for compulsory measures that may be taken in accordance with articles 111 and 114 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 457:After a people's court concludes the procedures for public notice and reminder in accordance with article 221 of the Civil Procedure Law, the applicant or declarant of the public notice initiates a lawsuit with the people's court, and where it is raised due to a dispute over the right to the negotiable instrument, the people's court at the place where the negotiable instrument was paid or where the defendant is domiciled has jurisdiction; Where a dispute arises due to a dispute over the right to a non-negotiable instrument, the people's court at the place where the defendant is domiciled has jurisdiction.
Article 458:Written rulings drafted in accordance with article 221 of the Civil Procedure Law to end the procedures for public notices are to be signed by the adjudicators and clerks, and affixed with the seal of the people's court.
Article 459:In accordance with the provisions of Article 223 of the Civil Procedure Law, where an interested party files a lawsuit with the people's court, the people's court may apply the ordinary procedures to hear the bill dispute.
Article 460:The legitimate reasons provided for in article 223 of the Civil Procedure Law include:
(1) Due to the occurrence of accidents or force majeure, the interested parties are unable to know the facts of the announcement;
(2) Where the interested party is unable to know the facts of the announcement because their personal liberty is restricted, or although they know the facts of the announcement, they are unable to declare their rights on their own or by entrusting others to do so on their behalf;
(3) It does not fall under the circumstances of a legally-prescribed application for publicity and reminder;
(4) Failure to make an announcement or failure to make an announcement in a legally-prescribed manner;
(5) Other objective reasons that cause the interested parties to fail to declare their rights to the people's court before the judgment is made.
Article 461:In accordance with article 223 of the Civil Procedure Law, where an interested party requests that the people's court revoke the judgment of expulsion, the applicant shall be listed as the defendant.
If the interested party only appeals to confirm that it is the legal holder, the people's court shall indicate in the judgment document that after the judgment confirming that the interested party is the holder of the instrument, the judgment of expulsion shall be revoked.
21. Enforcement Procedures
Article 462:A legally effective ruling on the realization of a security interest, a ruling confirming a mediation agreement, or a payment order shall be enforced by the people's court that made the ruling or payment order, or by the people's court at the same level as the people's court where the property subject to enforcement is located.
In judgments where property is found to be ownerless, the people's court that made the judgment is to return the ownerless property to the state or collective.
Article 463:Effective legal documents where parties apply to the people's courts for enforcement shall meet the following requirements:
(1) The subject of rights and obligations is clear;
(2) The content of the payment is clear.
Where the legal document determines the continued performance of the contract, the specific content of the continued performance shall be clarified.
Article 464:On the basis of article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law, where persons not involved in the case raise objections to the subject matter of enforcement, they shall do so before the conclusion of the enforcement procedures for the subject matter of enforcement.
Article 465:Objections raised by persons not involved in the case to the subject matter of enforcement are to be handled in accordance with the following circumstances upon review:
(1) Where a person not involved in the case does not enjoy rights and interests sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement of the subject matter of enforcement, a ruling is made to reject their objections;
(2) Where a person not involved in the case has rights and interests in the subject matter of enforcement sufficient to preclude compulsory enforcement, a ruling is made to suspend enforcement.
Within 15 days of the date on which the ruling rejecting an outsider's objection to enforcement is delivered to the outsider, the people's court must not dispose of the subject matter of enforcement.
Article 466:Where the person applying for enforcement and the person subject to enforcement reach a settlement agreement and request to suspend enforcement or withdraw the application for enforcement, the people's court may rule to suspend or terminate enforcement.
Article 467:Where one party does not perform or does not fully perform on a settlement agreement voluntarily reached by both parties during enforcement, and the other party applies for enforcement of the original effective legal document, the people's court shall resume enforcement, but the portion of the settlement agreement that has already been performed shall be deducted. Where the performance of the settlement agreement has already been completed, the people's court is not to resume enforcement.
Article 468:The provisions of article 239 of the Civil Procedure Law on the period for applying for enforcement apply to applications for resumption of enforcement of original effective legal documents. If the application for enforcement is interrupted due to the conclusion of a settlement agreement in enforcement, the period shall be recalculated from the last day of the performance period stipulated in the settlement agreement.
Article 469:Where a people's court decides to suspend enforcement in accordance with article 231 of the Civil Procedure Law, if the guarantee has a time limit, the period for suspending enforcement shall be consistent with the period for the guarantee, but must not exceed one year at the longest. Where the person subject to enforcement or the guarantor has transferred, hidden, sold, or damaged the secured property during the period of suspension of enforcement, the people's court may resume compulsory enforcement.
Article 470:Where enforcement guarantees are provided to the people's courts in accordance with article 231 of the Civil Procedure Law, the person subject to enforcement or others may provide a property guarantee, and others may also provide a guarantee. The guarantor shall have the ability to perform or bear the liability for compensation on behalf of the guarantor.
Where others provide a guarantee for enforcement, a letter of guarantee shall be issued to the enforcing court, and a copy of the guarantee shall be sent to the person applying for enforcement. Where the person subject to enforcement or others provide property security, the relevant formalities shall be handled with reference to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code.
Article 471:Where the person subject to enforcement still fails to perform his obligations after the expiration of the period for the people's court to suspend enforcement, the people's court may directly enforce the secured property or rule to enforce the guarantor's property, but the enforcement of the guarantor's property is limited to the part of the property that the guarantor shall perform its obligations on.
Article 472:In accordance with article 232 of the Civil Procedure Law, where a legal person or other organization that is the person subject to enforcement is separated or merged during enforcement, the people's court may rule that the changed legal person or other organization is the person subject to enforcement; If it is cancelled, if there is a successor of rights and obligations in accordance with the provisions of the relevant substantive law, it may be ruled that the successor of rights and obligations is the person subject to enforcement.
Article 473:Where other organizations are unable to perform the obligations set forth in legal documents during enforcement, the people's courts may rule to enforce the assets of legal persons or individual citizens who have obligations to that other organization in accordance with law.
Article 474:Where the name of the legal person or other organization that is the person subject to enforcement is changed during enforcement, the people's court may rule that the changed legal person or other organization is the person subject to enforcement.
Article 475:Where a citizen who is a person subject to enforcement dies and his heirs have not renounced the inheritance, the people's court may rule to change the person subject to enforcement, and the heirs are to repay the debts within the scope of the estate. Where the heirs renounce the inheritance, the people's court may directly enforce the estate of the person subject to enforcement.
Article 476:Where after the enforcement of other legal documents provided for by law to be enforced by the people's courts is completed, and the relevant organs or organizations revoke that legal document in accordance with law, the provisions of article 233 of the Civil Procedure Law apply upon application by the parties.
Article 477:Where some of the matters adjudicated by an arbitration institution have the circumstances provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 237 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall rule not to enforce that part.
If the part that should not be enforced is inseparable from the other parts, the people's court shall rule not to enforce the arbitral award.
Article 478:In accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 237 of the Civil Procedure Law, after the people's court rules not to enforce an arbitral award, the people's court shall not accept the objection or reconsideration of the ruling. The parties may re-enter into a written arbitration agreement on the civil dispute and apply for arbitration, or may file a lawsuit with the people's court.
Article 479:During enforcement, where the person subject to enforcement confirms or divides the property sealed, seized, or frozen by the people's court to a person not involved in the case through arbitration procedures, it does not affect the conduct of the people's court's enforcement procedures.
Where persons not involved in the case are not satisfied, they may raise an objection in accordance with article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 480:In any of the following circumstances, it may be found that the notarized creditor's rights document provided for in paragraph 2 of article 238 of the Civil Procedure Law is truly in error:
(1) The notarized creditor's rights document is a creditor's rights document that shall not be given compulsory enforcement effect;
(2) The party subject to enforcement has not personally or retained an agent to appear for notarization, or other serious violations of notarization procedures provided by law;
(3) The content of the notarized creditor's rights document is inconsistent with the facts or violates the mandatory provisions of the law;
(4) The notarized creditor's rights document does not specify that the person subject to enforcement agrees to accept compulsory enforcement when it does not perform its obligations or does not fully perform its obligations.
Where the people's court finds that the enforcement of the notarized creditor's rights document is contrary to the public interest, it shall rule not to enforce it.
After the notarized creditor's right document is ruled not to be enforced, the parties and the interested parties of the notarized matter may file a lawsuit on the creditor's rights dispute.
Article 481: Where a party requests not to enforce an arbitral award or notarized creditor's rights document, it shall submit it to the enforcing court before the enforcement is concluded.
Article 482:The people's court shall issue an enforcement notice within 10 days of receiving the application for enforcement or the transfer of the enforcement document.
In addition to ordering the person subject to enforcement to perform the obligations set forth in the legal documents, the enforcement notice shall also notify the person to bear the interest or penalty for delayed performance as provided for in article 253 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 483:Where the person applying for enforcement applies to the people's court for compulsory enforcement beyond the time limit for applying for enforcement, the people's court shall accept it. Where the person subject to enforcement raises an objection to the limitation period for applying for enforcement, and the people's court sustains the objection upon review, it rules not to enforce it.
Where, after the person subject to enforcement has performed all or part of his obligations, he requests a reversal of enforcement on the grounds that he does not know that the statute of limitations for applying for enforcement has expired, the people's court will not support it.
Article 484:Where a person subject to enforcement, the legally-designated representative, responsible person, or actual controller of a person subject to enforcement who must be investigated and questioned refuses to appear without a legitimate reason after being summoned in accordance with law, the people's court may custodial and summon him or her to appear.
The people's court shall promptly conduct an investigation and questioning of the detained person, and the time for investigation and questioning must not exceed 8 hours; Where the situation is complicated and detention measures might be employed in accordance with law, the time for investigation and questioning must not exceed 24 hours.
When people's courts employ custodial summons measures outside of their jurisdiction, they may custodial the summoned person to the local people's court, and the local people's court shall assist.
Article 485:People's courts have the right to inquire into the identity and property information of persons subject to enforcement, and units and individuals in possession of relevant information must handle it in accordance with the notice of assistance in enforcement.
Article 486:The people's courts must not dispose of the property subject to enforcement without sealing, seizing, or freezing it. For bank deposits and other types of property that can be directly deducted, the people's court's ruling on the deduction has the legal effect of freezing at the same time.
Article 487:The period for a people's court to freeze a person's bank deposits must not exceed one year, the period for sealing or seizing movable property must not exceed two years, and the period for sealing immovable property or freezing other property rights must not exceed three years.
Where the person applying for enforcement applies for an extension of the time limit, the people's court shall complete the formalities for continuing the sealing, seizure, or freezing before the completion of the period for sealing, seizure, or freezing, and the period for renewal must not exceed the period provided for in the preceding paragraph.
The people's courts may also handle the formalities for continued sealing, seizure, or freezing in accordance with their authority.
Article 488:In accordance with article 247 of the Civil Procedure Law, where a people's court needs to auction the property of the person subject to enforcement in the course of enforcement, the people's court may organize the auction on its own, or it may also have it handed over to an auction agency with corresponding qualifications for auction.
Where it is handed over to an auction institution for auction, the people's court shall supervise the auction activities.
Article 489:Where it is necessary to conduct on-site inspections or inquests for auction assessments, the people's court shall order the person subject to enforcement and the person obligated to assist to cooperate. Where the person subject to enforcement or the person obligated to assist does not cooperate, the people's court may compel it.
Article 490:Where a people's court needs to sell the property of the person subject to enforcement during enforcement, it may hand it over to the relevant unit for sale, or the people's court may directly sell it.
The people's courts or their staffs must not buy the property that has been sold.
Article 491:With the consent of the applicant for enforcement and the person subject to enforcement, and without harming the lawful rights and interests of other creditors or the public interest, the people's court may, without auction or sale, directly hand over the property of the person subject to enforcement to the person applying for enforcement to pay off the debt. For the remaining debts, the person subject to enforcement shall continue to pay off.
Article 492:Where the property of the person subject to enforcement cannot be auctioned or sold, with the consent of the person applying for enforcement, and without harming the lawful rights and interests of other creditors or the public interest, the people's court may hand over the property to the person applying for enforcement to pay off the debts or to the person applying for enforcement for management; Where the person applying for enforcement refuses to accept or manage it, it shall be returned to the person subject to enforcement.
Article 493:Where an auction is concluded or a judgment is made in accordance with legal procedures to settle debts in kind, the ownership of the subject matter shall be transferred from the time when the auction transaction ruling or the judgment on repayment of debts is delivered to the buyer or the creditor accepting the debt.
Article 494: Where the subject matter of enforcement is a specific object, the original object shall be enforced. If the original has indeed been damaged or lost, compensation may be made at a discounted price with the consent of both parties.
Where the parties cannot reach an agreement on the discounted compensation, the people's court shall terminate the enforcement procedures. The person applying for enforcement may file a separate lawsuit.
Article 495:Where others hold property or bills designated for delivery in legal documents, and the people's courts refuse to transfer them after issuing a notice of assistance in enforcement in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 249 of the Civil Procedure Law, they may enforce it and may handle it in accordance with articles 114 and 115 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where property or tickets are damaged or lost during the period of possession by others, it is to be handled with reference to article 494 of this interpretation.
Where others claim to lawfully possess property or tickets, they may raise an objection to enforcement in accordance with article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 496:Where during enforcement, the person subject to enforcement conceals assets, accounting books, and other materials, the people's court may, in addition to handling them in accordance with item (6) of paragraph 1 of article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law, also order the person subject to enforcement to hand over the concealed assets, accounting books, and other materials. Where the person subject to enforcement refuses to hand it over, the people's court may employ search measures.
Article 497: Searchers shall dress in accordance with regulations and present search warrants and work IDs.
Article 498:People's courts prohibit unrelated persons from entering the scene of the search during a search; Where the target of the search is a citizen, the person subject to enforcement or his adult family members shall be notified, as well as the basic-level organization to send personnel to appear; Where the subject of the search is a legal person or other organization, the legally-designated representative or principle responsible person shall be notified to appear. Where they refuse to appear, the search is not impacted.
Searches of women's bodies shall be conducted by female enforcement personnel.
Article 499:Where a search discovers property that shall be sealed or seized in accordance with law, it is to be handled in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 245 and article 247 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 500: A search record shall be drafted, and signed, sealed, or sealed by the searchees, the person being searched, and other persons present. Where they refuse to sign, affix a seal, or affix a seal, it shall be recorded in the search record.
Article 501:The people's court may make a ruling to freeze the creditor's rights when the person subject to enforcement enforces the due creditor's rights of another person, and notify the other person to perform it to the person applying for enforcement.
Where the other party has an objection to the due creditor's rights, and the applicant for enforcement requests that the objection be partially enforced, the people's court will not support it. Where interested parties have objections to the due creditor's rights, the people's court shall handle it in accordance with article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where the other party denies the due creditor's rights determined in the effective legal documents, the people's court will not support it.
Article 502:Where a people's court needs to go through formalities for the transfer of property rights certificates and licenses, such as real estate certificates, land certificates, forest rights certificates, patent certificates, trademark certificates, vehicle and vessel licenses, etc., in the course of enforcement, it may be handled in accordance with article 251 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 503:Where the person subject to enforcement does not perform the conduct obligations set forth in effective legal documents, and the obligation can be completed by others, the people's court may select a person to perform on their behalf; Where laws and administrative regulations restrict qualifications for the performance of the conduct obligation, they shall be selected from among the qualified persons. When necessary, the person who performs on behalf of the company may be determined by means of bidding.
The person applying for enforcement may recommend a person to perform on behalf of the person who meets the requirements, or may apply to perform on his behalf, and the people's court shall decide whether to approve it.
Article 504:The amount of fees for performing on behalf of the person is to be determined by the people's court on the basis of the specific circumstances of the case, and is to be paid in advance by the person subject to enforcement within the specified time period. If the person subject to enforcement fails to pay in advance, the people's court may enforce the fee.
After the performance is completed, the person subject to enforcement may consult and copy the list of expenses and the main vouchers.
Article 505:Where the person subject to enforcement does not perform the conduct specified in the legal documents, and the conduct can only be completed by the person subject to enforcement, the people's court may handle it in accordance with the provisions of item 6 of paragraph 1 of article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where the person subject to enforcement still fails to perform within the performance period determined by the people's court, the people's court may handle it again in accordance with item 6 of paragraph 1 of article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 506:Where the person subject to enforcement delays performance, the interest or penalty for the period of delay in performance is calculated from the date on which the period for performance specified in the judgment, ruling, or other legal document expires.
Article 507:Where the person subject to enforcement fails to perform the non-monetary payment obligation within the period specified in the judgment, ruling, or other legal documents, a penalty for delayed performance shall be paid, regardless of whether losses have been caused to the person applying for enforcement. if losses have already been caused, double the compensation for the losses already suffered by the applicant for enforcement; Where no losses have been caused, the penalty for delay in performance may be determined by the people's court on the basis of the specific circumstances of the case.
Article 508:Where the person subject to enforcement is a citizen or other organization, after the enforcement procedure begins, other creditors of the person subject to enforcement who have obtained a basis for enforcement discover that the property of the person subject to enforcement cannot pay off all creditor's rights, they may apply to the people's court to participate in the distribution.
Creditors who have priority or security interests in property sealed, seized or frozen by the people's courts may directly apply to participate in the distribution and claim the priority right to be repaid.
Article 509: To apply for participation in the allocation, the applicant shall submit an application form. The application shall clearly state the facts and reasons for participating in the distribution and the inability of the person subject to enforcement to pay off all creditor's rights, and shall be accompanied by a basis for enforcement.
The application for participation in the distribution shall be submitted after the commencement of the enforcement procedure and before the end of the enforcement of the property of the person subject to enforcement.
Article 510:In the course of participating in the distribution and enforcement, after deducting the enforcement costs from the proceeds of enforcement and paying off the creditor's rights that should be repaid in priority, ordinary creditor's rights shall, in principle, be repaid in accordance with their proportion to the total amount of creditor's rights applied for participation in distribution. The person subject to enforcement shall continue to pay off the remaining debts after repayment. If the creditor discovers that the person subject to enforcement has other property, it may request the people's court for enforcement at any time.
Article 511:Where multiple creditors apply to participate in the distribution of property subject to enforcement, the enforcing court shall draft a plan for the distribution of property and serve it on each creditor and the person subject to enforcement. If the creditor or the person subject to enforcement has any objection to the distribution plan, it shall submit a written objection to the enforcement court within 15 days from the date of receipt of the distribution plan.
Article 512:Where a creditor or a person subject to enforcement raises a written objection to the distribution plan, the enforcing court shall notify the creditor or person subject to enforcement who has not raised an objection.
If the creditor or the person subject to enforcement who has not raised an objection does not raise an objection within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice, the enforcement court shall review and revise the distribution plan according to the opinions of the objector; Where objections are raised, the objector shall be notified. The objector may, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice, file a lawsuit with the enforcement court with the creditor or the person subject to enforcement who raised the objection as the defendant; If the objector fails to file a lawsuit within the time limit, the enforcing court shall make the distribution in accordance with the original distribution plan.
If the distribution is made during the litigation period, the enforcing court shall deposit the amount corresponding to the amount of the disputed creditor's rights.
Article 513:In the course of enforcement, if the enterprise legal person that is the person subject to enforcement meets the circumstances provided for in the first paragraph of Article 2 of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, the enforcing court shall, with the consent of one of the persons applying for enforcement or the person subject to enforcement, rule to suspend the enforcement of the person subject to enforcement, and transfer the relevant materials of the enforcement case to the people's court at the place where the person subject to enforcement is domiciled.
Article 514:The people's court at the place where the person subject to enforcement is domiciled shall, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the relevant materials of the enforcement case, inform the enforcement court of the ruling on whether to accept the bankruptcy case. where it is not accepted, the relevant case materials shall be returned to the enforcing court.
Article 515:Where the people's court at the place where the person subject to enforcement is domiciled rules to accept the bankruptcy case, the enforcing court shall lift the preservation measures against the property of the person subject to enforcement. If the people's court at the place where the person subject to enforcement is domiciled rules to declare the person subject to enforcement bankrupt, the enforcing court shall rule to terminate the enforcement of the person subject to enforcement.
If the people's court at the place where the person subject to enforcement is domiciled does not accept the bankruptcy case, the enforcing court shall resume enforcement.
Article 516:Where a party does not agree to transfer the case to bankruptcy or the people's court at the place where the person subject to enforcement is domiciled does not accept a bankruptcy case, the enforcing court shall, after deducting the enforcement costs and paying off the creditor's rights that are preferentially repaid, pay off the ordinary creditor's rights in the order of property preservation and the property that was sealed, seized and frozen in the course of enforcement.
Article 517:Where creditors request the people's court to continue enforcement in accordance with article 254 of the Civil Procedure Law, they are not subject to the limitation period for applying for enforcement as provided for in article 239 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 518:Where the person subject to enforcement does not perform the obligations set forth in the legal documents, the people's courts, in addition to punishing the person subject to enforcement, may also include them in the list of judgment defaulters based on the circumstances, and report information on the person subject to enforcement's failure or incomplete performance of obligations to their unit, credit reporting establishments, and other relevant bodies.
Article 519:Where no property is found to be available for enforcement after a property investigation, a ruling may be made to terminate the enforcement procedure after the person applying for enforcement signs and confirms it, or the enforcing court forms a collegial panel to review and verify it, and upon approval by the court president.
After enforcement is terminated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if the person applying for enforcement discovers that the person subject to enforcement has property that can be used for enforcement, he may apply for enforcement again. Re-application is not subject to the limitation period for the application for enforcement.
Article 520:Where after enforcement is terminated due to a revocation application, the people's court shall accept it if the parties apply for enforcement again within the statute of limitations period for applying for enforcement as provided for in article 239 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 521:Within 6 months of the conclusion of enforcement, the person subject to enforcement or other persons have conduct that obstructs the subject matter of enforcement, the people's court may remove the obstruction upon application, and may impose a punishment in accordance with article 111 of the Civil Procedure Law. If the obstruction causes losses to the enforcement creditor or other persons, the victim may file a separate lawsuit.
22. Special Provisions on Foreign-Related Civil Litigation Procedures
Article 522:In any of the following circumstances, the people's courts may make a designation to be a civil case involving foreign interests:
(1) One or both of the parties are foreigners, stateless persons, foreign enterprises or organizations;
(2) The habitual residence of one or both parties is outside the territory of the People's Republic of China;
(3) The subject matter is outside the territory of the People's Republic of China;
(4) The legal facts that generated, modified, or terminated civil relationships occurred outside the territory of the People's Republic of China;
(5) Other circumstances that may be found to be foreign-related civil cases.
Article 523:Foreigners participating in litigation shall submit to the people's court passports and other documents used to prove their identity.
The identity documents submitted to the people's court by foreign enterprises or organizations participating in litigation shall be notarized by the notary public of the country where they are located and authenticated by the embassy or consulate of the People's Republic of China in that country, or the certification procedures stipulated in the relevant treaties concluded between the People's Republic of China and the country where they are located shall be performed.
A person participating in litigation on behalf of a foreign enterprise or organization shall submit to the people's court a certificate that he or she has the right to participate in the litigation as a representative, which shall be notarized by a notary public in the country where it is located and authenticated by the embassy or consulate of the People's Republic of China in that country, or perform the certification procedures stipulated in the relevant treaties concluded between the People's Republic of China and the country where it is located.
For the purposes of this Article, the term "country" refers to the country where the foreign enterprise or organization is established and registered, and may also be a third country that has gone through the formalities of business registration.
Article 524 In accordance with Article 264 of the Civil Procedure Law and Article 523 of this Interpretation, notarization and authentication procedures are required, and the country where the foreign party is located has not established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, may be notarized by a notary public in that country, authenticated by the embassy or consulate of a third country that has diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and then transferred to the People's Republic of China's embassy or consulate in that third country for authentication.
Article 525:Where a foreigner, representative of a foreign enterprise or organization signs a power of attorney in the presence of a judge of the people's court and entrusts an agent to conduct civil litigation, the people's court shall approve it.
Article 526:Where a foreigner, a representative of a foreign enterprise or organization signs a power of attorney within the territory of People's Republic of China and entrusts an agent to conduct a civil lawsuit, and it is notarized by a People's Republic of China notary public, the people's court shall recognize it.
Article 527:Where the written materials submitted by the parties to the people's court are in a foreign language, they shall also submit a Chinese translation to the people's court.
Where the parties have objections to the Chinese translation, they shall jointly entrust a translation agency to provide the translated text; Where the parties cannot reach an agreement on the choice of translation agency, the people's court is to make a determination.
Article 528:Foreign parties in foreign-related civil litigation may retain their own nationality as their agent ad litem, and may also retain a domestic lawyer to serve as an agent ad litem as a non-lawyer; Officials of foreign embassies and consulates in China, entrusted by their own citizens, may act as agents ad litem in their personal names, but they do not enjoy diplomatic or consular privileges and immunities in litigation.
Article 529:In foreign-related civil litigation, foreign embassies and consulates in China authorize their own embassy officials to hire People's Republic of China lawyers or People's Republic of China citizens in civil litigation for their own nationals in People's Republic of China as diplomatic representatives, provided that their own nationals are not in the People's Republic of China territory.
Article 530:In foreign-related civil litigation, upon agreement between the two parties to mediation, a mediation document shall be drafted and issued. Where the parties request the issuance of a written judgment, a written judgment may be drafted in accordance with the content of the agreement and served on the parties.
Article 531:Parties to foreign-related contracts or other disputes over property rights and interests may agree in writing to choose the jurisdiction of a foreign court that has an actual connection with the dispute, such as the defendant's domicile, the place where the contract is performed, the place where the contract is signed, the place where the plaintiff is domiciled, the place where the subject matter is located, or the place where the tort was committed.
According to Articles 33 and 266 of the Civil Procedure Law, the parties may not agree to choose the jurisdiction of a foreign court for cases that fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the People's Republic of China, except where arbitration is chosen by agreement.
Article 532:Where a foreign-related civil case meets the following circumstances at the same time, the people's court may rule to reject the plaintiff's lawsuit and inform them to initiate litigation with a more convenient foreign court:
(1) The defendant submits a request that the case should be subject to more convenient jurisdiction by a foreign court, or raises an objection to jurisdiction;
(2) There is no agreement between the parties to choose the jurisdiction of the courts of the People's Republic of China;
(3) The case does not fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the People's Republic of China;
(4) The case does not involve the interests of the State, citizens, legal persons, or other organizations of the People's Republic of China;
(5) The main facts in dispute in the case did not occur within the territory of the People's Republic of China, and the laws of the People's Republic of China did not apply to the case, and the people's court heard the case with major difficulties in determining the facts and applying the law;
(6) The foreign court has jurisdiction over the case, and it is more convenient to hear the case.
Article 533:In cases where both the courts of the People's Republic of China and foreign courts have jurisdiction, the people's courts may accept cases where one party files a lawsuit with a foreign court and the other party files a lawsuit with a court of the People's Republic of China. Where, after a judgment, a foreign court applies or the parties request a people's court to recognize and enforce a judgment or ruling made by a foreign court in the case, it is not permitted; Except as otherwise provided in international treaties jointly concluded or acceded to by both parties.
Where a judgment or ruling of a foreign court has already been recognized by a people's court, and the parties file a lawsuit with the people's court on the same dispute, the people's court shall not accept it.
Article 534:For parties who do not have a domicile within the territory of the People's Republic of China, after the litigation documents are served by public announcement, and the litigation documents are not sued upon the expiration of the public notice, and after the people's court makes a judgment in absentia, the judgment documents shall still be served by public announcement in accordance with the provisions of Article 267, Item 8 of the Civil Procedure Law. Where, three months after the expiration of the 30-day appeal period, the first-instance judgment takes legal effect.
Article 535:Where a foreigner or the representative or principal responsible person of a foreign enterprise or organization is within the territory of the People's Republic of China, the people's court may serve it on the natural person or the representative or principal responsible person of the foreign enterprise or organization.
The principal responsible person of a foreign enterprise or organization includes the directors, supervisors, senior managers, etc. of the enterprise or organization.
Article 536:Where the country where the recipient is located permits service by mail, the people's court may serve it by mail.
When it is delivered by mail, it shall be accompanied by a receipt of delivery. If the recipient does not sign on the receipt of delivery but signs on the receipt of mail, it shall be deemed to have been delivered, and the date of receipt shall be the date of delivery.
If three months have elapsed since the date of mailing, if the supporting documents for delivery have not been received, and it is not sufficient to determine that it has been served according to various circumstances, it will be deemed that it cannot be served by mail.
Article 537:Where people's courts employ public notice to serve litigation documents on parties in the first instance, they may directly use public notice to serve litigation documents on them at the second instance, except where the people's court is able to employ other methods than public announcement for service.
Article 538:The period of appeal against the judgment or ruling of the people's court of first instance shall be applied to parties who have a domicile within the territory of the People's Republic of China, and the time limit provided for in article 164 of the Civil Procedure Law shall apply; For parties who do not have a domicile within the territory of the People's Republic of China, the time limit provided for in article 269 of the Civil Procedure Law shall apply. Where the parties' appeal period has expired and no appeal has been made, the judgment or ruling of the first-instance trial court will take legal effect.
Article 539:The period during which people's courts review parties to civil cases involving foreign interests applying for retrial is not restricted by article 204 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 540 The applicant shall submit a written application to the people's court for enforcement of the award of the foreign-related arbitration institution of the People's Republic of China, and attach the original of the award. If the applicant is a foreign party, the application shall be submitted in Chinese.
Article 541:When a people's court enforces an arbitral award of a foreign-related arbitration institution, and the person subject to enforcement raises a defense on the grounds that there are circumstances provided for in the first paragraph of article 274 of the Civil Procedure Law, the people's court shall conduct a review of the defense of the person subject to enforcement, and rule on whether to enforce or not to enforce it based on the results of the review.
Article 542 In accordance with article 272 of the Civil Procedure Law, if a foreign-related arbitration institution of the People's Republic of China submits a party's application for preservation to the people's court for ruling, the people's court may conduct a review and rule whether to make a preservation. Where a ruling is made for preservation, the applicant shall be ordered to provide a guarantee, and if the applicant does not provide a guarantee, a ruling shall be made to reject the application.
Where a party applies for evidence preservation, and the people's court finds upon review that it is not necessary to provide a guarantee, the applicant may not provide a guarantee.
Article 543:Where an applicant applies to a people's court for recognition and enforcement of a legally effective judgment or ruling made by a foreign court, he shall submit an application and attach the original or certified copy of the legally effective judgment or ruling made by the foreign court, as well as a Chinese translation. Where a judgment or ruling of a foreign court is a default judgment or ruling, the applicant shall also submit supporting documents that the foreign court has been lawfully summoned, unless the judgment or ruling has clearly stated this.
Where international treaties concluded or acceded to by the People's Republic of China have provisions on the submission of documents, they shall be handled in accordance with such provisions.
Article 544 Where a party applies to an intermediate people's court with jurisdiction over the People's Republic of China for recognition and enforcement of a legally effective judgment or ruling made by a foreign court, if the country where the court is located and the People's Republic of China have not concluded or jointly participated in an international treaty, nor is there a reciprocal relationship, the application shall be rejected, except where the party applies to the people's court for recognition of a legally effective divorce judgment made by a foreign court.
If the application for recognition and enforcement is rejected by a ruling, the parties may file a lawsuit with the people's court.
Article 545 Where a party applies to the people's court for recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award rendered by an ad hoc arbitral tribunal outside the territory of the People's Republic of China, the people's court shall handle it in accordance with article 283 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Article 546 Where a legally effective judgment, ruling or foreign arbitral award made by a foreign court needs to be enforced by a court of the People's Republic of China, the parties shall first apply to the people's court for recognition. After review, the people's court rules to admit it, and then enforces it in accordance with the provisions of Part III of the Civil Procedure Law.
Where a party only applies for recognition but does not apply for enforcement at the same time, the people's court will only review and make a ruling on whether or not recognition should be recognized.
Article 547:The provisions of Article 239 of the Civil Procedure Law shall apply to the period for parties to apply for recognition and enforcement of legally effective judgments, rulings or foreign arbitral awards made by foreign courts.
Where a party only applies for recognition but does not apply for enforcement at the same time, the period for applying for enforcement shall be recalculated from the date on which the people's court's ruling on the application for recognition takes effect.
Article 548:In cases of recognition and enforcement of legally effective judgments, rulings or foreign arbitral awards made by foreign courts, the people's courts shall form a collegial panel to conduct a review.
The people's court shall serve the written application on the respondent. The respondent may state its opinions.
A ruling made by a people's court upon review shall take legal effect once it is served.
Article 549:Where a court of a country that does not have a judicial assistance treaty with the People's Republic of China and has no reciprocal relationship directly requests the people's court to provide judicial assistance without diplomatic channels, the people's court shall return it and explain the reasons.
Article 550 Where a party uses a judgment or ruling of a court of the People's Republic of China outside the territory of the People's Republic of China and requests the court of the People's Republic of China to prove its legal effect, or a foreign court requests the court of the People's Republic of China to prove the legal effect of the judgment or ruling, the court of the People's Republic of China that made the judgment or ruling may issue a certificate in the name of that court.
Article 551:People's courts hearing civil litigation cases involving Hong Kong, the Macau S.A.R. and Taiwan regions may refer to the special provisions on foreign-related civil litigation procedures.
23. Supplementary Provisions
Article 552 After the promulgation and implementation of this Interpretation, the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" issued by the Supreme People's Court on July 14, 1992 shall be repealed at the same time; Where judicial interpretations previously issued by the Supreme People's Court are inconsistent with this interpretation, they are no longer applicable.
Shanxi Taiyuan Chang Lawyer Key words:
Legal Advice, Professional Lawyer, Writing Complaints, Lawyer Consultation, Loan Disputes, Criminal Defense, Criminal Interviews, Release on Bail, Case Entrustment, Housing Leasing, Private Lending, Tort Disputes, Damages, Creditor's Rights and Debts, Legal Knowledge, Legal Knowledge, Legal Risks, Traffic Accidents, Contract Invalidation, Contract Termination, Third Party Revocation, Right of Revocation, Enforcement Objection, Enforcement, Judgment Debtor, Blacklist, Dishonest Person, Restricted Consumption, Equity Transfer, Company Business, Articles of Association, Partnership Disputes, Legal Counsel, Inheritance, Real Estate Inheritance, Testamentary Succession, Property Agreement, Joint Property, Property Division, Contract Law, Marriage Law, Divorce Disputes Divorce Agreement Divorce Case Litigation Representation Civil Dispute Hiring a Lawyer Contract Dispute Contract Review Contract Formation ......