Civil Procedure Law Related Regulations Selected

Author: Compiled by the Legal Publishing Center of the Legal Publishing House
Publisher:
Publishing Date: March 1, 2004
Features: Preface to the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Procedure Law) is the first formally promulgated civil procedure code in China and the fundamental law of China's civil procedure system. It stipulates the basic principles, systems, and procedures for the trial of civil and commercial dispute cases in China. Since its promulgation and implementation in 1991, the law has significantly improved the protection of the rights of parties in litigation, laying a solid foundation for the People's Courts to resolve civil and commercial disputes scientifically, justly, swiftly, and economically in the new era. From the perspective of legal sources, China is a civil law country, where national legislation is often too abstract and lacks operability, requiring corresponding laws and regulations to supplement and perfect it. The Civil Procedure Law is the procedural rules for the People's Courts to adjudicate civil cases. Therefore, other related legal norms that regulate the civil procedure system are not administrative regulations or departmental rules, but rather a large number of Supreme People's Court judicial interpretations. According to the different fields of application, these judicial interpretations can be divided into several categories, such as comprehensive, procedural, evidence, enforcement, and cost. Among the comprehensive judicial interpretations of the Civil Procedure Law, the two most important are: The Supreme People's Court's Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (July 14, 1992) and The Supreme People's Court's Provisions on Strictly Implementing the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China in Economic Trial (December 22, 1994). In response to the problems exposed in judicial practice, they have made necessary supplements to various aspects of the Civil Procedure Law and are now indispensable legal references for the civil adjudication activities of the People's Courts.
Procedural The Supreme People's Court's Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Reform of Civil and Economic Trial Methods (July 6, 1998) and The Supreme People's Court's Provisions on the Application of Simple Procedure for Adjudicating Civil Cases (September 10, 2003) are specialized judicial interpretations that regulate the civil trial procedures. The two judicial interpretations reflect the achievements of China's civil judicial reform over the past decade, especially in the reform of trial methods. The former focuses on the Supreme People's Court's efforts to strengthen the function of court trials, while the latter refines and perfects the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law regarding civil simple procedures, which has significant positive implications for the division of case complexity.
Evidence Evidence is the foundation of judicial fairness. In response to the overly simplistic provisions of the Civil Procedure Law regarding the evidence system, The Supreme People's Court's Provisions on Several Issues Concerning Civil Procedure Evidence (December 21, 2001) has detailedly stipulated many important issues of the civil evidence system, such as: clarifying the burden of proof for parties, stipulating eight situations where the burden of proof is reversed, establishing a system for the time limit for presenting evidence, and addressing the validity of illegal evidence.
Enforcement "Enforcement difficulties" have long been a major problem plaguing China's enforcement work and have also affected the actual effect of civil litigation in regulating social relations. In 1998, which was designated as the "Year of Enforcement" for the People's Courts, the Supreme People's Court promulgated The Supreme People's Court's Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Work of the People's Courts in Enforcement (July 8, 1998), further providing legal support for the enforcement work of the People's Courts. In addition, China's independent enforcement law is currently under drafting.
Cost The amount of litigation costs is a very important consideration for ordinary citizens when choosing a dispute resolution method. The Civil Procedure Law does not specify the standards for litigation costs, and the main judicial interpretations specifically addressing litigation fees include: The Measures for the Court Fee of Civil Litigation (July 12, 1989) and The Supreme People's Court's Supplementary Provisions for the Measures for the Court Fee of Civil Litigation (July 28, 1999). It should be noted that although the Measures for the Court Fee of Civil Litigation was promulgated before the Civil Procedure Law, it remains the most important legal basis for litigation fees in civil litigation.