SPC Provisions on several questions regarding case registration and filing

Title: Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding Case Registration and Filing

Promulgating Entities: Supreme People's Court

Reference number: Legal Interpretation (2015) No.8

Promulgation Date: 2015-4-15

Expiration date:

Source of text: Page 3 of the The People's Court Reporter for April 17, 2015

Proclamation of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China

"Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding Case Registration and Filing" published on April 13, 2015 following the 1647th Meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court, are hereby promulgated and take effect on May 1, 2015.

Supreme People's Court

4/15/2015

Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding Case Registration and Filing

In order to protect citizens', legal persons' and other organizations' legal right to sue, and to realize the people's courts' timely acceptance of a case in accordance with the "People's Republic of China's Civil Procedure Law," "People's Republic of China's Administrative Procedure Law," and "People's Republic of China's Criminal Procedure Law," these provisions are formulated.

Article 1: People's courts carry out a case filing registration system for first-instance civil complaints, administrative complaints and private criminal prosecutions that should be accepted in accordance with law.

Article 2: For complaints or private prosecutions, the people's courts shall accept all written complaints without exception, and issue a written certificate and note the date on which it was received.

The people's courts shall register and file cases complying with legal provisions on-site.

People's courts shall provide clear explanation for complaints or private prosecutions that do not comply with legal provisions.

Article 3: People's courts shall provide samples of written complaints, to provide a model and guidance for parties in writing complaints.

Where parties truly have difficult in writing a complaint, they may give it orally, and the people's court will make a record. Where they comply with legal provisions, the case is registered and filed.

Article 4: Civil complaints shall specify the following items:

(1) the plaintiff's name, sex, age, nationality, occupation, work unit, residence, and contact details; for a corporation or other organization, its name, residence and the name, position and contact details of the legally-designated representative or the person with primary responsibility;

(2) The defendant's name, sex, work unit, residence and other such information, and the name, residence and other such information for legal persons or other organizations.

(3) The facts and reasons on which litigation demands are based;

(4) Evidence and sources of evidence;

(5) The names and residence of witnesses where there are witnesses.

Administrative complaints are written with reference to civil complaints.

Article 5: Criminal private prosecution complaints shall clearly not the following matters:

(1) The name, sex, age, ethnicity, education level, occupation, work unit, address, and contact information for private prosecutors those making complaints on behalf of others or defendants;

(2) The time, place, means, circumstances, and harmful consequences of the defendant's commission of a crime, ;

(3) specific demands in the litigation;

(4) the people's court where the pleadings were sent and the time;

(5) the names and sources of evidence etc.;

(6) specify the witness's name, residence, contact methods, and other such information , where there are witnesses.

Article 6: Parties submitting complaints or private prosecutions shall submit the following materials:

（一）起诉人、自诉人是自然人的，提交身份证明复印件；起诉人、自诉人是法人或者其他组织的，提交营业执照或者组织机构代码证复印件、法定代表人或者主要负责人身份证明书；法人或者其他组织不能提供组织机构代码的，应当提供组织机构被注销的情况说明；

（二）委托起诉或者代为告诉的，应当提交授权委托书、代理人身份证明、代为告诉人身份证明等相关材料；

（三）具体明确的足以使被告或者被告人与他人相区别的姓名或者名称、住所等信息；

（四）起诉状原本和与被告或者被告人及其他当事人人数相符的副本；

（五）与诉请相关的证据或者证明材料。

Article 7: Where the party's submitted complaint and materials do not meet the requirements, the people's court shall only once and in writing, notify the party the correction within the specified period.

Where the party makes the correction within the specified time period, the time period for the people's courts to decide whether or not to accept the case is calculated from the date of receipt of the corrected materials.

Where the party does not make the correction within the specified time period, the complaint and the record are returned; where the party insist on filing the complaint or private prosecution, determine or decide not to accept the case and refuse to file it.

After corrections have been made and it still does not meet the requirements, determine or decide not to accept the case and refuse to file it.

Article 8: Concerning a party's complaint or private prosecution, where the people's court is unable to make a decision on the spot about compliance with laws and regulations, it shall handle the matter according to the following:

(1) For civil and administrative lawsuits, shall decide within 7 days of receiving the complaint whether to register the case;

(2) For private prosecutions, shall decide within 15 days of receiving the complaint whether to register the case;

(3) For third party proceedings challenging a judgment, shall decide within 30 days of receiving the complaint whether to register the case;

(4) For execution defect proceedings, shall decide within 15 days of receiving the complaint whether to register the case.

If the people's court is unable, within the statutory time period, to decide whether a lawsuit or private prosecution is in compliance with the laws and regulations, it shall file the case in advance.

Article 9: Where people's courts do not accept or file a complaint or private prosecution, they shall issue a written judgment and indicate the reasons.

Article 10: People's courts shall not register or file the following types of complaints or private prosecutions:

(1) Illegal complaints or complaints that do not comply with law or regulations;

(2) Matters that endanger the sovereignty or territorial integrity of the state;

(3) Matters that endanger national security;

(4) Matters that undermine national unity or ethnic solidarity;

(5) Matters that undermine state religious policy;

(6) Matters that do not fall under the purview of the people's courts.

Article 11: After registration and filing, where the parties have not paid litigation fees, follow the procedures for withdrawing the case, except where it is a case that is eligible for suspension, reduction or waiving of litigation fees.

Article 12: After registration and filing, the people's court case filing division shall promptly transfer the case to a trial division for trial.

Article 13: 对立案工作中存在的不接收诉状、接收诉状后不出具书面凭证，不一次性告知当事人补正诉状内容，以及有案不立、拖延立案、干扰立案、既不立案又不作出裁定或者决定等违法违纪情形，当事人可以向受诉人民法院或者上级人民法院投诉。

People's courts shall review facts and feedback the circumstances to the parties within 15 days of accepting a complaint. Where conduct violating law or discipline is discovered, pursue responsibility of relevant persons in accordance with law and discipline; where a crime is constituted, pursue criminal responsibility in accordance with law.

Article 14: To facilitate the exercise of parties' rights to litigate, people's courts provide services such as online case-filing, case-filing by appointment, or roaming case registration.

Article 15: People's courts promote the establishment of multifaceted dispute resolution mechanisms, respect party's choice of multiple methods of preserving their rights and resolving disputes, such as people's mediation, administrative mediation, industry mediation and arbitration.

Article 16: People's courts maintain case filing and registration order, advancing the establishment of credible litigation. Where there is interference with the case filing order or a false lawsuit, a fine or detention is to be imposed in accordance with the related provisions of the Civil Procedure or Administrative Procedure Laws; where it constitutes a crime, investigate the criminal responsibility in accordance with law.

Article 17: In these regulations, "submitting a complaint" refers to a party bringing of a civil or administrative lawsuit; "private prosecution" refers to a party bringing a private criminal prosecution.

Article 18: Registration and filing of cases involving compulsory enforcement and applications for state compensation shall be carried out in accordance with these regulations.

These regulations shall not apply to registration of appeals, applications for retrial, criminal petitions, enforcement reconsiderations, and state compensation petitions.

Article 19: Case registration and filing by people's tribunals shall be carried out in accordance with these regulations.

Article 20: These regulations shall take effect on May 1, 2015. In case of any discrepancies between these regulations and earlier regulations concerning case-filing, these regulations shall be enforced.