Civil Compulsory Enforcement Research

Author: Xia Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Preface Since the 1990s, the reform of China's civil enforcement system has entered a new stage of development. Theoretical research has continuously expanded in depth, and innovative measures for enforcement reform have been introduced in practice. Although there is still debate on whether a separate Civil Enforcement Law should be formulated, which has delayed its enactment, the Supreme People's Court has issued a series of judicial interpretations on enforcement to some extent compensate for the shortcomings in enforcement legislation and has played a positive role in addressing the issue of enforcement difficulties. However, the phenomenon of enforcement difficulties remains prominent in China at the current stage. If this issue is not properly resolved, it will undoubtedly severely impact the stability of social order and constrain the balanced development of the economy. Therefore, in-depth discussion on the causes of enforcement difficulties and the methods and countermeasures to resolve them remains an unavoidable topic in China's civil enforcement work at present. The report of the 16th National Congress explicitly pointed out the need to "effectively address the issue of enforcement difficulties." This shows that the current situation of enforcement in China's civil cases is extremely severe. What exactly makes enforcement difficult? Why is a civil enforcement issue that is not a problem in some developed countries a persistent challenge in China? We believe that China's enforcement difficulties stem from both historical reasons and the relatively low level of economic development and weak legal awareness among the public; from the lack of a sound civil enforcement system and lagging legislation, as well as misconceptions in people's enforcement concepts. In light of this, to fundamentally solve the problem of enforcement difficulties in civil cases, it is essential not to "treat the head when the head aches and the feet when the feet aches," but to grasp the key issues and adopt effective measures to eliminate it completely. There are mainly three measures: first, reforming the enforcement system; second, innovating enforcement measures; and third, strengthening the transformation of enforcement concepts. Reform of the enforcement system includes issues such as the understanding of the nature of civil enforcement power, the positioning of the purpose, value, and function of civil enforcement, as well as the setup of enforcement agencies. Innovation of enforcement measures refers to the reasonable application of traditional enforcement measures while continuously exploring enforcement methods that are adapted to the conditions of a market economy. Transformation of enforcement concepts focuses on correctly understanding the relationship between adjudication and enforcement, emphasizing the enforcement risk awareness of parties, and so on. Given the continuous publication of works on civil enforcement, the theoretical community has reached a consensus on basic enforcement theory issues. For these common issues, we believe there is no need for repetition, and therefore, this book does not aim to be comprehensive in its structure but focuses on providing theoretical and practical discussions on some prominent issues in enforcement, striving to find effective solutions. The comparative study of China's and Canada's civil enforcement systems in this book is well-documented and up-to-date, with legislative proposals that are reasonable. We believe it will provide enlightenment for improving the situation of enforcement work in China.