[Commentary] On October 21, in order to promote judicial cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the People's Court of Nansha District of Guangdong Free Trade Zone issued the "Guidelines for Litigation on Debating Procedures in Similar Cases."
The similar case debate procedure refers to the procedure in which the court organizes both parties to discuss the similarity and referentiality of the submitted case in the court for the application of similar cases submitted by the parties during the trial of the case.
This procedure is generally applicable to new types, difficult and complicated cases or cases where the dispute is large, the legal provisions are unclear, and both parties are represented by legal professionals.
[Concurrent] Su Xiping, Member of the Judicial Committee of the People's Court of Nansha District, Guangdong Free Trade Zone
Our country is a statutory law country. The judge’s basis for judgment is the direct legal provisions. What kind of role does the previous effective judgment play in the judge’s judgment? Our country has no such precedent. In the United Kingdom and the United States or ours In Hong Kong and Macau, they usually adopt the rules of precedent judgments, and the previous effective judgments are direct and referential to the trial of subsequent cases.
[Explanation] From January 2019 to July 2020, the People's Court of Nansha District of Guangdong Free Trade Zone accepted a total of 2,131 foreign-related, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-related cases, more than 20 times the total number of foreign-related cases accepted in the three years before centralized jurisdiction.
The rapid increase in the number of cases reflects the rapid increase in the activity of foreign-related economic activities in Guangzhou, and it also means that more foreign-related parties choose to resolve disputes through judicial channels.
According to reports, Hong Kong belongs to the common law system, and "following precedents" is its basic principle. The guidelines issued this time are to give full play to the role of case guidance and reference, and to promote the exploration of docking with internationally accepted litigation rules.
[Concurrent] Su Xiping, Member of the Judicial Committee of the People's Court of Nansha District, Guangdong Free Trade Zone
Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland launched a mock trial on the same mock case. Experts, scholars, judges, and lawyers were organized to form teams to conduct mock trials on the same case. In this way, the three types of litigation rules in three places are directly presented. , That is, everyone can vividly study the operation of the lawsuit rules of the three places, compare them intuitively, and find out their differences and common points. This is a platform for cooperation and exchange.
The other is to actively participate in the service construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in our Nansha District and this international litigation and arbitration integrated legal gathering area. This is a platform for judicial cooperation and exchange between our two.
[Commentary] Su Xiping said that the People's Court of Nansha District of Guangdong Free Trade Zone is based on the geographical characteristics of Nansha's proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, and builds a mechanism for the convergence of judicial rules between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and enhances the international credibility of trials in the Free Trade Zone.
The guidelines issued this time are just another innovation after drawing on litigation rules such as client-based service, lawyer's investigation order, and discovery of evidence.
(Reported by Cai Minjie and Wei Jeff from Guangdong)
Editor in charge: [Li Yuxin]