CCTV News Client |Author: Zhang Sai, Li Ming.
On December 18, the Supreme People's Court issued the Decision on Amending the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of International Commercial Courts, which will come into force on January 1, 2024, in order to continuously enhance the international credibility and influence of China's judiciary, better serve and safeguard the Belt and Road Initiative, and promote high-level opening-up.
There are two decisions. The first is to expand the scope of cases in which the parties agree to choose the jurisdiction of the International Commercial Court. Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the "Provisions" is amended to read: "(1) The parties agree to choose the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court in accordance with the provisions of Article 277 of the Civil Procedure Law for first-instance international commercial cases with a subject matter of more than RMB 300 million." Article 277 of the Civil Procedure Law establishes a jurisdiction system for foreign-related agreements that conforms to China's national conditions and conforms to international trends, clarifying that if the parties to a foreign-related civil dispute agree in writing to choose the jurisdiction of the people's court, the people's court may have jurisdiction, and does not require that the dispute must have an actual connection with China, so as to encourage foreign parties to choose the jurisdiction of Chinese courts, fully reflecting China's judicial attitude of respecting the autonomy of the parties, equal protection, inclusiveness and openness. Accordingly, Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the Provisions has been adapted to clarify that the scope of cases accepted by the International Commercial Court includes first-instance international commercial cases in which the parties agree to choose the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court in accordance with Article 277 of the Civil Procedure Law and the subject matter is more than RMB 300 million, and the provisions of Article 35 of the Civil Procedure Law (Article 34 of the 2012 Civil Procedure Law) that the parties must choose the people's court with an actual connection with the dispute when agreeing on jurisdiction will no longer apply.
The second is to expand the channels for ascertaining foreign laws. The first paragraph of Article 8 of the "Provisions" is amended to read: "When an international commercial court hears a case that shall apply foreign law, it may be ascertained through the following channels: (1) provided by the parties;(2) Provided by the other party's ** organ or competent organ through judicial assistance channels;(3) Requesting the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country or the country's embassy or consulate in China through the Supreme People's Court;(4) Provided by the participants in the legal identification cooperation mechanism established by or in which the Supreme People's Court participated;(5) Provided by experts of the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People's Court;(6) Provided by legal ascertainment service bodies or Chinese and foreign legal experts;(7) Other appropriate channels". The amendment to this provision expands the channels for international commercial courts to ascertain foreign laws, which is consistent with the channels for ascertaining foreign laws as stipulated in Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Application of Laws to Foreign-Related Civil Relations, reflecting the uniformity and coordination between judicial interpretations.