Chinanews.com, November 11 According to the WeChat official account of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, in order to standardize the procedures for the people's courts and people's procuratorates to handle cases of procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial, promote the implementation of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era", improve the quality and effectiveness of legal supervision and judicial credibility, and promote judicial fairness, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate recently jointly issued the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Standardization of the Handling of Cases with Procuratorial Suggestions for Civil Retrial" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions").
The "Opinions" clarify the basic principles for handling cases with procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial; standardize the scope, procedures, and relevant materials for procuratorial organs to submit procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial; standardize the procedures for the people's courts to handle cases of procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial; It is clearly proposed to explore the establishment and improvement of mechanisms for the normalization of work between the people's courts and the people's procuratorates; It is of practical significance to normalize and substantively resolve disputes, unify the application of law, improve the quality and efficiency of the judiciary, and further improve the working mechanism for trial supervision. The specific comments are as follows:
Fa Fa [2023] No. 18
Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate
Issued the "On Regulating the Handling of Civil Retrials".
Opinions on Several Issues in Procuratorial Suggestion Cases".
To the High People's Courts and People's Procuratorates of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the PLA Military Courts and Military Procuratorates, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region High People's Court Production and Construction Corps Branch, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps People's Procuratorate:
On the basis of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" and relevant legal provisions, the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate have drafted the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Standardized Handling of Cases of Procuratorial Suggestions for Civil Retrial", so as to standardize the procedures for the people's courts and people's procuratorates to handle cases of procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial, to advance the implementation of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era", to increase the quality and effectiveness of legal supervision and judicial credibility, and to promote judicial fairness, on the basis of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" and relevant legal provisions, the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate have drafted the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Standardized Handling of Cases of Procuratorial Suggestions for Civil Retrial", which are hereby printed and distributed, and are requested to be implemented in light of actual conditions. Problems encountered in the course of enforcement should be reported to the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate respectively.
Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate
November 2023, 11
Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate
On standardizing the handling of cases with procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial
Views on a number of issues
These Opinions are drafted on the basis of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" and other legal provisions, combined with judicial practice, so as to standardize the procedures for the people's courts and people's procuratorates to handle cases of procuratorial recommendations for civil retrial, to advance the implementation of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era", to increase the quality and effectiveness of legal oversight and judicial credibility, and to promote judicial fairness.
Article 1: Procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial are an important method for people's procuratorates to carry out legal oversight of effective civil judgments, rulings, and mediation documents. The people's courts and people's procuratorates shall strictly follow the provisions of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" on procuratorial recommendations for retrial, and perform trial and legal supervision duties in accordance with law and regulations. People's procuratorates should adhere to supervision standards that combine legality and necessity, increase the timeliness and effectiveness of supervision, and standardize the application of retrial procuratorial recommendations; The people's courts should persist in accepting supervision in accordance with law, increase their initiative and consciousness in accepting supervision, promptly handle cases with procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial, and jointly preserve judicial fairness.
Article 2: Where the people's procuratorate discovers that an effective civil judgment or ruling of a people's court at the same level has any of the circumstances provided for in article 207 of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China", or that the civil mediation document has circumstances that harm the national interest or the societal public interest, it may submit a procuratorial recommendation for retrial to the people's court at the same level; Where local people's procuratorates at all levels submit procuratorial suggestions for retrial, they shall report to the people's procuratorate at the level above for filing.
Where people's procuratorates discover that effective civil judgments, rulings, or mediation documents were obtained by civil litigants through false litigation, it is to be handled in accordance with article 18 of the "Opinions of the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of Justice on Further Strengthening Efforts to Punish False Litigation Crimes".
Article 3: People's procuratorates generally do not apply the method of submitting a procuratorial recommendation for retrial to conduct oversight of effective civil judgments, rulings, or mediation documents made by the people's court at the same level after discussion by the adjudication committee.
Clerical errors or flaws in the people's courts' effective civil judgments, rulings, or mediation documents are not circumstances for submitting a procuratorial recommendation for retrial, and the people's procuratorate may submit a recommendation for improving work.
Article 4: People's procuratorates submitting procuratorial suggestions for retrial shall normally be discussed and decided upon by the procuratorial committee. Where there are special circumstances, the people's procuratorate may consult with the people's court at the same level to resolve the issue.
Article 5: People's procuratorates submitting procuratorial suggestions for retrial shall transfer the procuratorial suggestions for retrial to the people's court at the same level together with the procuratorial case materials.
The procuratorial recommendation for retrial shall indicate the relevant circumstances of the case and oversight opinions, and list the circumstances provided for in articles 215 and 216 of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" in the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document.
Where the people's procuratorate submits a procuratorial recommendation for retrial that does not meet the above provisions, the people's court is to handle it in accordance with article 414 of the "Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China".
Article 6: People's courts shall compile a case number within 7 days of receiving a procuratorial recommendation for retrial that meets the requirements and relevant procuratorial case materials, include it in case flow management, conduct a review in accordance with law, and inform the people's procuratorate.
Where that court or a higher level people's court has already made a ruling rejecting an application for retrial, it does not impact the people's court's acceptance of a procuratorial recommendation for retrial submitted by the people's procuratorate at the same level.
Where the people's procuratorate has already ruled on a retrial in a case where the people's procuratorate has submitted a procuratorial recommendation for retrial but has not yet completed trial, the people's court shall merge the procuratorial suggestion for retrial into the retrial case and try it together, and notify the people's procuratorate in writing. Where the case has already been ruled by the people's court at the level above for retrial but has not yet been concluded, the people's court at the same level may send the procuratorial suggestion for retrial and the procuratorial case materials to the people's court at the level above and inform the people's procuratorate that submitted the procuratorial suggestion for retrial.
Article 7: People's courts shall form a collegial panel in cases of procuratorial recommendations for civil retrial, and complete the review within three months. Where there are special circumstances that require an extension, the review period shall be extended in accordance with the relevant approval procedures.
Adjudicators who participated in the trial of this case during the original trial procedures must not again participate in the handling of the case with a procuratorial recommendation for civil retrial.
Article 8: People's courts generally employ methods such as reviewing case materials transferred by the people's procuratorate and reading the case files of the original trial to conduct a written review of cases with procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial. Where, upon review, a retrial might be initiated in the case or there are other circumstances that are truly necessary, the parties shall be questioned.
Article 9: Where, upon review, people's courts find that the original judgment, ruling, or mediation document was truly in error in a case of a procuratorial recommendation for civil retrial, and decide to adopt the procuratorial recommendation to initiate a retrial, the retrial ruling shall indicate the document number of the supervisory organ and the procuratorial recommendation for civil retrial. The written ruling shall be sent to the people's procuratorate at the same level.
Where the people's court decides not to retry after review, it shall reply to the people's procuratorate in writing and explain the reasons. The people's procuratorate may appropriately inform the applicant of the people's court's decision not to retry.
Article 10: In civil cases where people's courts adopt a procuratorial recommendation for retrial to initiate a retrial, in-court proceedings are to be held in accordance with the procedures provided for in items 3 and 4 of the first paragraph of article 402 of the "Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on the Application of the 'Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China'". In any of the following circumstances, the people's procuratorate may appoint personnel to appear in court:
(1) The people's procuratorate finds that the disposition of the original case harmed the national interest or the societal public interest;
(2) The people's procuratorate finds that there was false litigation in the original case;
(3) Evidence that the people's procuratorate investigates and verifies needs to be presented to the court;
(4) It has a major social impact or other circumstances that make it necessary to appear in court.
Where the People's Procuratorate appoints personnel to attend court, it may refer to the procedures provided for in Article 402, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the "Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China" to hold in-court proceedings.
Article 11: In civil cases where people's courts adopt a procuratorial recommendation for retrial to initiate a retrial, they shall send the judgment or ruling made after the retrial to the people's procuratorate at the same level. Where mediation concludes the case, inform the people's procuratorate at the same level in writing.
Article 12: People's courts and people's procuratorates shall establish mechanisms for joint mediation in cases of procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial, and do a good job of mediation and conflict resolution efforts in cases of procuratorial suggestions for civil retrial.
Article 13: People's courts and people's procuratorates shall explore the establishment of mechanisms for normalized work contact. The people's courts and people's procuratorates shall strengthen mutual communication in handling cases involving mass disputes or causing widespread social concern that might impact social stability, as well as major, difficult, complex, or sensitive cases, and properly handle them in accordance with law.
Article 14: People's courts and people's procuratorates shall periodically carry out comprehensive analysis and reporting of retrial procuratorial suggestion work, promoting positive interaction between trial supervision and procuratorial oversight work, and increasing the quality and effectiveness of the handling of cases with retrial procuratorial suggestions.
All levels of local people's court and people's procuratorate may first consult with the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate when they encounter new situations or problems in practice, and promptly report the relevant issues and response measures up to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate.