Summary procedure is a type of litigation procedure as opposed to ordinary procedure, which is mainly applied to simple civil cases. The main steps of the simplified procedure include the following:
Prosecution and acceptance: If a party submits a complaint to the court, and the court examines the complaint and finds that it meets the requirements for filing a complaint, it shall accept it.
Mediation: In summary proceedings, mediation is mandatory. The court shall mediate between the parties and try to facilitate the parties to reach a settlement agreement. If the mediation is successful, the parties may apply to the court to confirm the settlement agreement, and the court may prepare a mediation statement or ruling to confirm the settlement agreement.
Trial: The trial is the most critical part of the summary procedure. In the trial stage, judges may, in accordance with the provisions of the summary procedures, adopt simple and flexible methods to hear the case, such as adopting a single-judge system or a collegial system, written trials, or ** trials.
Judgment: At the end of the trial, the judge shall make a judgment in a timely manner based on the circumstances of the trial. The content of the judgment should be concise and to the point, and only resolve the issues at issue between the parties.
Appeal: If a party is dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment, he or she may appeal to the court at the next higher level within the statutory time limit. The appeal procedure is the same as the ordinary procedure.
The significance of the summary procedure is to improve the efficiency of litigation, reduce the cost of litigation, and facilitate the parties to quickly resolve disputes. Through the summary procedure, the parties can obtain legal remedies more quickly, and at the same time, it can also reduce the burden on the court and improve the efficiency of the court. In addition, the summary procedure can also promote reconciliation between the parties, reduce confrontation and contradictions, and contribute to social harmony and stability.
The scope of application of summary procedures is generally narrow and only applicable to simple civil cases. However, with the development of society and the continuous improvement of the legal system, the scope of application of the summary procedure is also expanding. In some countries and regions, summary procedures have even become the main litigation procedure and are applicable to most civil cases. Therefore, it is of great significance to continuously improve the relevant provisions and operational procedures of the summary procedure to improve judicial efficiency and meet the judicial needs of the parties.