Facilitate the resolution of disputes and confidence, China's Supreme Law issued a document to guide foreign-related trials
China News Service, Beijing, September 25th, title: Facilitating conflicts and confidence, China's Supreme Law issued a document to guide foreign trials
China News Agency reporter Zhang Su
Regarding the “Guiding Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on Further Expanding the Opening-up of the People’s Courts’ Service Guarantee” issued on the 25th, Yang Wanming, Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court of China, said that this will be an important part of the People’s Court to strengthen the foreign-related adjudication system and capacity building in the future Guiding documents.
The opinions have 17 articles in 6 parts, and put forward specific requirements for key areas of foreign-related trials such as foreign-related commercial affairs, maritime affairs, administration, intellectual property, cross-border bankruptcy, finance, and enforcement, as well as deepening international judicial exchanges and cooperation, and training high-quality foreign-related trial personnel. .
At the same time, the opinions also proposed a number of measures to improve the system of rules for the application of foreign-related laws, further improve the international commercial dispute settlement mechanism, and improve the procedural rules and judgment standards for the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments of foreign courts.
In the eyes of observers, the background for issuing opinions at this time is special.
This is not only due to the continuous increase in foreign-related civil and commercial maritime cases. In 2019, the national courts received 15,872 new foreign-related civil and commercial cases, an increase of 11.26% year-on-year; it is also due to the rise of unilateralism and protectionism. Service and guarantee to promote a deeper and higher level of opening up.
"The opinions not only provide guidance for the people's courts to ensure further opening up to the outside world, but also reflect our country's people's courts' commitment to provide high-level service guarantees for further opening up." said Guo Xiaomei, deputy director of the Treaty and Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Looking at this judicial document, the various measures proposed to properly handle foreign-related cases in accordance with the law and improve the multiple dispute resolution and litigation service system are quite bright.
For example, in response to the judicial needs of the parties in cross-border litigation, it is proposed to "build a litigation service platform for parties outside the territory."
Wang Shumei, President of the Fourth Civil Trial Division of the Supreme People's Court of China, said that cutting-edge technologies such as big data, cloud computing, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and 5G will also be strengthened in the field of foreign-related trials to provide maximum convenience for Chinese and foreign parties to participate in litigation.
For another example, for local innovation, opinions support foreign arbitration institutions to establish business institutions in specific regions after registration and record, accept international arbitration cases according to arbitration agreements; support border areas, important node cities, and core regions in accordance with the principle of consultation, joint construction and sharing. Explore regional bilateral and multilateral dispute resolution cooperation mechanisms and establish a joint dispute resolution platform.
Another example is to improve the "one-stop" international commercial dispute resolution mechanism.
Yang Wanming said that the establishment of the International Commercial Court of the Supreme People’s Court will be further promoted, the scope of selection of the Supreme People’s Court’s international commercial expert committees will be expanded, and the construction of the “Belt and Road” international commercial legal service demonstration zone will also be promoted.
The interviewee further pointed out that the publication of this judicial document is expected to increase the confidence of Chinese and foreign parties in the Chinese market.
In order to protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese and foreign parties equally in accordance with the law, the opinion puts forward three elements as the core elements of equal protection in civil litigation, respect for party autonomy, and the exercise of judicial jurisdiction in accordance with the law.
"Let more commercial entities understand China's judicial system, and inject confidence for foreign investors in deepening the Chinese market." Wang Shumei said.
In order to create a legalized, internationalized, and convenient business environment, the opinions focus on the “three areas” of administrative trial, intellectual property trial and cross-border trial enforcement. Among them, the punitive compensation system for intellectual property infringement is clearly and strictly implemented, and the foreign-related intellectual property litigation system is improved. Provide a fair and competitive market environment for Chinese and foreign parties.
In order to promote the improvement of the system of rules governing the application of foreign-related laws, the opinions have taken measures from four aspects, including the publication of guiding cases and typical cases in multiple languages to enhance the understanding and trust of international commercial entities in Chinese law.
In order to enhance the international influence of China's justice system, the opinions highlight the "three emphasises." The first thing is to actively participate in the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral judicial assistance treaties, handle judicial assistance cases in a timely manner, and promote mutual recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments between countries.
According to Jiang Chenghua, deputy director of the Treaty and Law Department of the Ministry of Commerce of China, in August 2019, China joined the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation as the first group of members.
For example, he said that the new version of the Negative List released in June this year further reduced the items on the Negative List for Foreign Investment Access and continued to expand market access. The revised and promulgated Measures for Complaints by Foreign Investment Enterprises in August also strengthened the protection and promotion of the legal rights and interests of foreign investment. Practical measures to continuously optimize the business environment.
Guo Xiaomei said that at present, China has concluded 169 bilateral criminal, civil and commercial judicial assistance treaties with 81 countries, and participated in a number of multilateral treaties containing judicial assistance content.
"The people's courts strengthen international judicial assistance in accordance with international treaties concluded or jointly participated in by China, or in accordance with the principle of reciprocity, will provide a more certain and predictable legal environment for China's foreign legal relations." She said.
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