In the News: Judicial Cooperation; Chambers of Commerce and Enforcement Database
January 29, 2019 | BY
Jacelyn JohnsonImproved cooperation in judicial assistance over civil and commercial matters between courts in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong; chambers of commerce to play a bigger role in resolving economic disputes in the private sector; and national database enforces court orders more quickly.
China and Hong Kong Courts Sign on Improved Judicial Cooperation
Delegates from the Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Hong Kong Department of Justice met for a document signing on January 18. The agreement was made to improve cooperation in judicial assistance over civil and commercial matters between courts in mainland China and Hong Kong and the enforcement of civil and commercial cases.
Hong Kong Justice Chief Teresa Cheng was willing to increase judicial exchanges with the SPC to promote more judicial cooperation between the two jurisdictions.
SPC president Zhou Qiang, said the agreement covers civil and commercial judicial assistance between the two jurisdictions, including lower costs of judicial proceedings, protecting the parties' rights and interests and deepening the relationship between the people of mainland China and Hong Kong.
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China Encourages Chambers of Commerce to Up Their Game in Dispute Resolution
China is encouraging its chambers of commerce to play a bigger role in resolving economic disputes in the private sector in a bid to promote healthy development. The Supreme People's Court and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) published a document on January 27 to encourage and cultivate mediation organizations of chambers of commerce and let the judiciary lead and support their dispute resolution process.
According to the document, efforts should be made to establish a dispute settlement system that facilitates effective linking between the mediation mechanism of chambers of commerce with litigation procedures, and the operations should be standardized.
China has 47,000 chambers of commerce and about 1,520 mediation organizations affiliated to more than 3,400 federations of industry and commerce at all levels.
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National Database Helps Enforce Court Orders
In a document published by the Supreme People's Court, the judgment enforcement database which was established in 2014, has helped enforce court orders more quickly and protected citizens' interests.
By the end of 2018, the database has helped freeze $60.9 billion for about 60.38 million enforcement cases and provided 9.84 million searches for additional assets, such as cars or houses. The nationwide database is connected to more than 3,900 banks and 16 other agencies to monitor the properties of those subject to enforcement of court orders, including deposits in bank accounts and online accounts, real estate, vehicles and stocks.
The statement also noted that 20.42 million cases requested intervention from the courts to enforce orders between 2016 to 2018, 94.96% of which have been closed, implicating funds of about Rmb4.4 trillion.
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