Chongqing, 4 Apr (ZXS) -- This reporter learned from the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area People's Court (Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone People's Court) on 6 April that the court recently held a public hearing of a case involving a dispute over a mining right transfer contract in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and pronounced its judgment in court. This is the first case in Chongqing to find out and apply the laws of ASEAN countries for trial and judgment.
On April 2019, 4, the plaintiff Gao and the defendants Yao and You signed a supplementary agreement on coal mining contracting, stipulating that Gao and You would jointly contract the coal mining project from a certain place in Yao, and the coal mine involved in the case was located in Laos. After the contract was signed, Gao went to Laos to carry out mining activities as agreed, but a safety accident occurred soon after, and the coal mine involved in the case stopped production.
After the resumption of operations, disputes arose over whether Gao had the right to switch from cave mining to surface mining. Gao sued the court on the grounds that Yao and You had maliciously colluded to harm their interests and that the contract involved in the case violated mandatory provisions of law, requesting confirmation that the contract was invalid and requiring the second defendant to compensate for losses. The defendant Yao filed a counterclaim, demanding that the plaintiff Gao pay the contract fee as agreed.
Because the case involved the application of foreign law and there was this counterclaim, it was a difficult and complicated case, and the court of Chongqing Liangjiang New Area (Free Trade Zone) formed a collegial panel to hear it in accordance with the law. During the trial, in response to issues related to foreign law, the collegial panel notified the Lao legal ascertainment expert from the China-ASEAN Law Research Center of Southwest University of Political Science and Law who accepted the entrustment of the investigation of the case to appear in court online to further explain the ascertainment report, and accepted questions from the collegial panel and the parties, and the court arranged for personnel to provide translation.
After careful deliberation, the collegial panel pronounced its judgment on the case, judged the validity of the contract in accordance with Lao law, and determined the assumption of responsibility in light of the evidence presented by the parties. After the judgment was rendered, none of the parties appealed, and the judgment in this case has taken legal effect.
The Chongqing Liangjiang New Area (FTZ) Court held that the outcome of the judgment was conducive to guiding market entities involved in international trade and investment to actively perform their statutory obligations and carry out trading activities in accordance with laws and regulations. At the same time, the trial of this case fully demonstrates the judicial concept of openness, inclusiveness and equal protection upheld by Chinese courts in international commercial dispute resolution, and promotes Chongqing to become a preferred place for foreign-related commercial dispute resolution. (End)