Sui Zhong Fa [2020] No. 104
Notice of Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on Issuing the Opinions of Guangzhou Courts for Implementation of the Application of Simplified Adjudicative Documents in Certain Civil and Commercial Cases
To all primary courts and all departments of this Court,
In order to implement theDecision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Authorizing the Supreme People's Court to Carry Out the Pilot Program of the Reform of Separation between Complicated Cases and Simple Ones under Civil Procedurein Some Areasand the Measures for the Implementation of the Pilot Program of the Reform of Separation between Complicated Cases and Simple Ones under Civil Procedureof the Supreme People's Court, standardize the preparation of adjudicative documents for civil and commercial cases, realize the separation between complicated cases and simple ones for adjudicative documents, and improve the quality and efficiency of trials, these Opinions are hereby formulated in light of the court trial practice in Guangzhou. These opinions have been discussed and adopted by the Judicial Committee of this Court on April 7, 2020 and approved by Guangdong Higher People's Court on June 1, 2020, and are hereby issued to you, please implement them carefully. Please promptly report any new situation or new problem encountered during the implementation to the Office of the Leading Group for Pilot Program of the Reform of Civil Litigation System of Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court.
Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court
June 17, 2020
Opinions of Guangzhou Courts for Implementation of the Application of Simplified Adjudicative Documents in Certain Civil and Commercial Cases
I. General Provisions
1．In order to promote the pilot program of the reform of separation between complicated cases and simple ones under civil procedure, standardize the preparation of adjudicative documents for civil and commercial cases, realize the separation between complicated cases and simple ones for adjudicative documents, and improve the quality and efficiency of trials, in accordance with theDecision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Authorizing the Supreme People's Court to Carry Out the Pilot Program of the Reform of Separation between Complicated Cases and Simple Ones under Civil Procedure in Some Areasand the Measures for the Implementation of the Pilot Program of the Reform of Separation between Complicated Cases and Simple Ones under Civil Procedureof the Supreme People's Court, combined with the existing laws, judicial interpretations and relevant provisions of the Supreme Court and Guangdong Higher People's Court, these Opinions are hereby formulated in light of the trial practice in Guangzhou.
2．The simplification of adjudicative documents for civil and commercial cases shall adhere to the principles of simplicity when simple procedure is appropriate, complication when complicated procedure is appropriate, and proper complication and simplicity, which shall be implemented step by step and proceed steadily to achieve the unity of judicial justice and efficiency.
3．The types of simplified adjudicative documents for civil and commercial cases in the first instance include element-based adjudicative documents, table-based adjudicative documents and writ-based adjudicative document, which shall be selected and applied by the primary people's court according when appropriate.
4．The primary people's courts shall vigorously promote element-based adjudicative documents, and improve duly the application of writ-based adjudicative documents and table-based adjudicative documents.
5．The simplification of civil and commercial adjudications in the second instance shall, based on the types of cases and combined with the trial procedures and methods, gradually increase the intensity of application.
II. Element-based Adjudicative Documents
6． Element-based adjudicative document refers to a legal document, that for a case that can summarize the fixed elements, when preparing the adjudicative document, it no longer describes the parts respectively such as the plaintiff claims, the defendant defends, it is ascertained after the trial, and the court holds, but instead focuses on the elements of the case, stating the claims and defenses, evidence, the grounds and basis for the determination of the court and adjudicative results.
Forlabor disputes, motor vehicle accident liability disputes and other cases, which have many elements and relatively fixed elements, element-based adjudicative documents shall be applied.
7．Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court shall uniformly determine the relevant basic elements and theList of Litigation Elementsbased on the characteristics of the typed cases, and prepare the format of element-based adjudicative documents. The primary people's courts may also make appropriate adjustments according to the specific situations of the case.
The List of Litigation Elements shall be published on www.gzcourt.gov.cn for downloading and using by the parties and their attorneys.
8．The people's court may use the basic elements of the case as clues when holding a hearing, solicit the opinions of the parties item by item, review and confirm the undisputed elements of the parties, focus on the elements that are in dispute between the parties, and guide the parties to present evidence and cross-examine on the elements in dispute.
9．The element-based documents adopt the writing method of "Narrative and Discussion" for every element.
III. Table-based Adjudicative Documents
10．Table-based adjudicative document refers to an adjudicative document that uses the table listing method in whole or part to state the claims and defenses of the parties, the facts ascertained by the court, the grounds for the adjudication, and the main text.
11．Table-based adjudicative documents include pure table-based adjudicative documents and table-affixed adjudicative documents.
12．Pure table-based adjudicative document refers to an adjudicative document that uses the table listing method to state the claims and defenses of the parties, the facts ascertained by the court, the grounds for the adjudication, and the main text.
Fora case with simple facts, if the parties have no dispute over the facts and liabilities, the pure table-based adjudicative document shall apply.
13．Table-affixed adjudicative document refers to an adjudicative document listing in the form of table for the part of the monetary payment items involved in the case.
For the part of monetary payment items, the payment items, amount, calculation formula and the basis for determinationmay be listed in the table.
14．The table style can be divided into two types: insert table type and annex table type. The insert table adjudicative document inserts a table in the document, and the annex table adjudicative document places a table as an annex at the end of the document.
15．The items listed in the table of the document may be adjusted according to the needs of the case, and the items not involved may be omitted or marked "Nil".
IV. Writ-based Adjudicative Documents
16．A writ-based adjudicative document refers to a legal document that only contains the basic information of the parties, the claims of the plaintiff, the facts ascertained by the court, and the main text of the adjudication, and does not record in detail the parts such as the claims and defenses of the parties and the court's holdings.
17．For civil and commercial cases applying simplified procedures (including the small claims procedures), under one of the following circumstances, the people's court may apply writ-based adjudicative documents to simplify the parts such as the claims and defenses of the parties and the court's holdings:
(1)During the procedures, either party clearly states that it recognizes all claims or main claims of the other party;
(2)The parties have no or little dispute over the facts of the case;
(3)The parties agree to apply the simplified adjudicative document.
Fora case where the defendant’s whereabouts are unknown and ordinary procedures are applied, if the case is relatively simple, a writ-based adjudicative document can also be applied.
18．The following types of cases may select to apply writ-based adjudicative documents: (1) Credit card overdraft disputes; (2) Mortgage arrears disputes; (3) Arrears of property service fees and utilities; (4) Arrears of housing rent disputes; (5) Work-related injury insurance treatment disputes; (6) Private lending disputes where the defendant only defended by lack of repayment ability; (7) Intermediary contract disputes; or (8) Other cases suitable for ruling by writ-based adjudicative documents.
Writ-based adjudicative documents shall not be applied to the cases of default judgments.
19．For cases where the application of writ-based adjudicative document is selected, the people's court may serve theNotice of Application ofWrit-basedAdjudicative Documentto all parties when serving the case acceptance notice and the notice of response, or inform the parties orally during the trial according to the situations of the case.
20．Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court shall formulate the uniform format of the writ-based adjudicative document, and the primary people's courts may also make appropriate adjustments according to the situations of the cases, but the basic facts of the case cannot be omit.
For cases of immediate performance in court, the people's court may issueno adjudicative document with consent of all parties, but with relevant situations be recorded in the court transcript; it can also order the party accepting the performance to issue corresponding written certification upon request.
21．In principle, judgment of a case applying writ-based adjudicative document shall be passed in court and the adjudicative document thereof served immediately. Under special circumstances, the adjudicative document may be served to the parties within three days after the judgment has been passed in court.
V. Simplified Adjudicative Documents for Civil and Commercial Matters in the Second Instance
22．The simplification of civil and commercial adjudicative documents in the second instance is applicable to the following circumstances:
(1)The facts and grounds of the appeal are consistent or basically consistent with the claims and defense opinions of the first instance;
(2)The determination of the facts in dispute in the first instance is accurate and the grounds are fully explained;
(3)No new evidence is submitted during the second instance, or although new evidence is submitted, it is insufficient to prove the facts claimed.
The adjudicative document of the second instance may apply the simplified format in part or in whole in the parts such as the claims and defenses, the facts ascertained and confirmed, and the grounds for the adjudication based on the above circumstances.
23．The following types of second instance cases may select to apply simplified adjudicative documents: (1) Labor dispute cases; (2) Consumer rights protection dispute cases; (3) Sales contract dispute cases; (4) Motor vehicle traffic accident liability disputes; (5) Intermediary contract disputes; (6) Property service contract disputes; (7) Private lending disputes; (8) Credit card disputes; (9) Property insurance contract disputes; (10) Divorce disputes; (11) Cases applying for retrial; or (12) Other cases where simplified adjudicative documents are suitable.
24．For second instance cases where the system of sole-judge proceedings is applied, the simplified format shall be used in the adjudicative documents.
25．For second instance cases tried in writing, the simplified format may be applied to the adjudicative documents.
VI. Supplementary Provisions
26．When implementing the reform of adjudicative documents, it is necessary to give proper directions to the parties, actively guide the parties to accurately grasp the main points of the claims and defenses, and ensure the parties to carry out litigation activities smoothly and efficiently.
27．Cases applying simplified adjudicative documents shall give full play to the functions of the court trial, and record and videotape the entire court trial process.
28．The trial courts of Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court may, according to their respective scopes of acceptance, collect and sort out the excellent theories and clauses cited by the courts of both levels in the municipality on common disputes, and establish a library of standardized theories and clauses cited in typed cases, so as to realize standardized and professional trials and effectively improve trial efficiency while unifying the criteria for adjudication.
29．The trial management department shall provide support for the quality evaluation standards of simplified adjudicative documents, and in the annual case quality evaluation work, it shall formulate the quality evaluation standards applicable to simplified adjudicative documents.
30．The simplification of civil and commercial adjudicative documents shall adhere to the principle of full application in simple cases and partial application in complicated cases. The primary people's courts are encouraged to make vigorous advancements based on actual conditions, accumulate experience, and continuously summarize and improve.