SPC rules to reduce court complaints

Guideline to improve how verdicts are carried out, senior official says

The Supreme People's Court has launched a major push to improve the way courts implement verdicts, to reduce inefficiency in the justice system.

A new guideline for the nation's 200,000 judges states that disputes arising from verdicts not being enforced effectively, or at all, must be resolved quickly.

Courts are advised to set up panels to review any complaints and to clearly explain the procedures and decisions to involved parties.

The guideline, which took effect on June 30, aims to better protect people's rights, said Wu Shaojun, deputy director-general of enforcement for the SPC.

"We cannot stop litigants from questioning enforcement, but we can reduce the number of complaints by having better rules to follow," he said, adding that the guideline could reduce the number of complaints to zero within three years.

Zhang Yuan, an SPC judge who helped to draw up the guideline, said a flight attendant's dispute with a district court in Beijing last year was an important test case for the new complaints procedure.

"His complaint was simple, but it helped to quicken our efforts to develop the procedures," he said.

The flight attendant was sued by a former friend for failing to pay back a loan to buy a home. The court found in favor of the plaintiff and ordered the defendant to sell his home to repay the debt.

However, in his complaint, the defendant said he was out when court officials visited his home to do an evaluation of his property and that the price set — without his consent — was too low.

"He was outraged by the price. Basically, he just wanted to know whether the evaluation was reasonable, but when he asked the court for more information, the court didn't respond," Zhang said.

Angry at being ignored, he filed a complaint with the SPC, which is when Zhang got involved. The judge set up a panel to review the case, which resulted in the flight attendant receiving a full explanation for the property evaluation, which he accepted.

Petitions about the implementation of verdicts made up 30 percent of all enforcement-related complaints to the top court last year, making the issue a top concern, the judge said. "Whatever the result is, judicial authorities must settle disputes in the spirit of the rule of law," he added.

In addition, the guideline stipulates that higher courts must play a supervisory role when they receive complaints about lower courts.

All courts are also required to explain clearly to the involved parties when a verdict cannot be carried out.

In Yunnan province, the parents of a man injured in a traffic accident complained to the SPC after a local court failed to follow up on a compensation order. After an investigation, it was discovered the defendant had no assets with which to pay damages.

"According to the guideline, courts can no longer ignore such situations," Zhang said. "They must provide an explanation on what they did to carry out a verdict, and why it was not carried out."

In the Yunnan case, he added, the couple received compensation from a government fund set up to help out in such cases.