Jolene Chen
After the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate jointly issued the Explanation on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Criminal False Lawsuits, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, together with the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice, once again issued the Opinions on Further Increasing the Punishment for False Lawsuits Offenses (the “Opinions”) on March 4, 2021. The Opinions seek to comprehensively prevent and punish criminal false litigation, with a total of seven sections on general provisions, the screening and detection of false lawsuits, the transfer of evidence and case investigation, the procedural linkage, accountability, collaboration mechanisms, and the supplemental provisions.
I. In the Screening and Detection of False Lawsuits chapter, the Opinions provide an explanation about the “filing of a civil lawsuit based on fabricated facts” and names the types of civil cases that are easily susceptible to such offense, as well as provide for the circumstances that should be considered when a people’s court or a people’s procuratorate discovers a false lawsuit offense during its strict review.
II. In the Transfer of Evidence and Case Investigation chapter, the Opinions clarify that the court with territorial jurisdiction of false lawsuit offenses is the people’s court in the place where the false lawsuit is accepted or where the enforcement court is located. For judicial staff who use their authority to engage in false litigation with others, the higher people’s court may designate the lower people’s court to transfer the case to another people’s court. In addition, the Opinions also provide for the procedure a people’s court or a people’s procuratorate transfers a false lawsuit offense matter to a public security agency, the materials required to be submitted and the handling method following the review by the public security agency.
III. In the Procedural Linkage chapter, the Opinions provide that when a people’s court transfers a false lawsuit offense matter to a public security organ, if there is a civil case that depends on the results of the prosecution, the civil case should be suspended; if the results turn out to not affect the civil case from proceeding normally, the civil case should continue. If it is found in the criminal case that the acts of any party to the civil litigation constitutes a false lawsuit offense while the civil litigation is still pending or being enforced, the people’s court that handed down the criminal decision shall timely notify the people’s court adjudicating or enforcing the civil case. The people’s court shall timely initiate the trial supervision procedure to correct the civil decision, ruling or mediation result that has taken legal effect if it is found to be in conflict with the decision in the false lawsuit offense matter.
IV. In the Accountability chapter, the Opinions added that should the people’s court discover that the parties or other lawsuit-related participants were involved in false litigation, it may impose a fine or detention on such individuals before transferring the relevant materials to a public security agency. For a defendant in a false lawsuit offense case who is sentenced to a fine, imprisonment or detention, the people’s court shall reduce the fine, imprisonment or detention that it had already imposed pursuant to the Civil Procedure Law by a corresponding amount.