Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Providing Online Filing Service for Cross border Litigation Parties

These Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Registration and Filing of Cases by the People’s Court and other laws and judicial interpretations, and in combination with the actual work of the People’s Court, so that Chinese and foreign parties can enjoy the same convenient and efficient filing service.
Article 1 The people’s court provides cross-border litigants with online case filing guidance, inquiry, entrusted agent video witness and registration services.
The parties to cross-border litigation referred to in these Provisions include foreigners, residents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region (hereinafter referred to as “Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region”) and Taiwan, Chinese mainland citizens with their habitual residence abroad or in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and enterprises and organizations registered abroad or in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Article 2 The scope of online case filing service for cross-border litigants includes civil and commercial litigation of first instance.
Article 3 The people’s court provides cross-border litigants with online filing service through China Mobile’s micro court.
Article 4 Where a cross-border litigant applies for filing a case online for the first time, the court receiving the lawsuit shall first carry out identity verification. The identity verification mainly relies on the immigration certificate authentication platform of the National Immigration Administration for online verification; If the online verification is not possible, the respondent court shall manually verify the identity documents of the parties and the identification documents such as notarization, authentication, forwarding and sending for verification online.
The identity verification result shall be notified to the cross-border litigants online within 3 working days.
Article 5 When conducting identity verification, cross-border litigants shall submit the following materials to the respondent court online:
（1） Foreigners shall submit passports and other certificates to prove their identity; Enterprises and organizations shall submit identification documents and documents proving that the person who participates in the litigation on behalf of the enterprise and organization has the right to participate in the litigation as a representative. The documents shall be notarized by the notary office of the country where the enterprise and organization is located and authenticated by the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country. If the country where foreigners, foreign enterprises and organizations are located has no diplomatic relations with China, they may be notarized by the notary office of that country, authenticated by the embassy or consulate of a third country that has diplomatic relations with China in that country, and then transferred to the embassy or consulate of China in the third country for authentication. If there are specific provisions on certification procedures in international treaties and conventions concluded, concluded or acceded to between China and foreigners, foreign enterprises and organizations, such provisions shall prevail, except for the provisions on which China has declared reservations;
（2） Residents of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Zones shall submit their identity certificates, Hong Kong and Macao resident certificates, Hong Kong and Macao resident passes to and from the mainland and other certificates used to prove their identity; Enterprises and organizations shall submit identification documents and documents certifying that the person who participated in the litigation on behalf of the enterprise and organization has the right to participate in the litigation as a representative, which shall be notarized by a notary recognized by the mainland, and forwarded with seals by China Legal Services (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. or China Legal Services (Macao) Co., Ltd;
（3） Taiwan residents shall submit Taiwan identity certificates, Taiwan resident certificates, Taiwan residents’ travel permits to and from the mainland and other certificates used to prove their identity; Enterprises and organizations shall submit identification documents and proof that the person who participated in the litigation on behalf of the enterprise and organization has the right to participate in the litigation as a representative. The certification documents shall be handled through the cross Straits notarial certificate verification channel;
（4） Mainland Chinese citizens whose habitual residence is located abroad or in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan should submit resident identity cards, household registers or ordinary passports issued by Chinese public security organs to prove their identity, and provide work visas, permanent residence cards and other supporting materials to prove that they have legally resided continuously abroad or in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan for more than one year.
Article 6 If a cross-border litigant who has passed identity verification entrusts a Chinese mainland lawyer to represent him in litigation, he may apply to the court of appeal for online video witness.
Online video witness is initiated by the judge online, and the judge, cross-border litigants and entrusted lawyers are all online at the same time. The parties to the cross-border litigation shall use the common language of the People’s Republic of China or be equipped with translators. The judge shall confirm whether the entrusted lawyer and his/her law firm and the entrusted act are the true intention of the parties to the cross-border litigation. Under the witness of the judge’s video, the cross-border litigants and the entrusted lawyer sign the relevant proxy documents without going through the formalities of notarization, authentication, transmission, etc. After online video witness, the entrusted lawyer can carry out online case filing, online fee payment and other matters on behalf.
The online video witness process will be automatically saved by the system.
Article 7 When applying for online filing, cross-border litigants shall submit the following materials online:
（1） Complaint;
（2） The identity certificate of the party concerned and the corresponding notarization, authentication, transmission, mailing and verification materials;
（3） Evidence materials.
The above materials shall be in the common language of the People’s Republic of China or translated by a qualified translation company.
Article 8 The authorization materials for cross-border litigants to entrust their agents to conduct litigation include:
（1） When a representative of a foreigner, foreign enterprise or organization signs a power of attorney outside China, he or she shall be notarized by the notary office of the country where he or she is located and certified by the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country; If the host country has no diplomatic relations with China, it can be notarized by the notary office of that country, authenticated by the embassy or consulate of a third country with diplomatic relations with China in that country, and then transferred to the embassy or consulate of China in the third country for authentication; When signing the power of attorney in China, it shall be signed in the presence of a judge or notarized by a mainland notary institution; If there are specific provisions on certification procedures in international treaties and conventions concluded, concluded or acceded to between China and foreigners, foreign enterprises and organizations, such provisions shall prevail, except for the provisions on which China has declared reservations;
（2） The power of attorney signed by the residents of Hong Kong and Macao special zones and the representatives of enterprises and organizations in Hong Kong and Macao special zones outside the mainland of China shall be notarized by a notary recognized by the mainland, and forwarded with the seal of China Legal Services (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. or China Legal Services (Macao) Co., Ltd; When signing a power of attorney in the mainland of China, it shall be signed in the presence of a judge or notarized by a mainland notary institution;
（3） When Taiwan residents sign the power of attorney outside the mainland of China, they should go through the cross Straits notarial certificate verification channels; When signing the power of attorney in the mainland of China, the power of attorney shall be signed under the witness of a judge or notarized by a notary office in the mainland;
（4） The power of attorney sent or entrusted by mainland Chinese citizens with their habitual residence abroad must be certified by the Chinese embassy or consulate in the country; If there is no embassy or consulate, it shall be certified by the embassy or consulate of a third country that has diplomatic relations with China in that country, and then transferred to the embassy or consulate of China in that third country for certification, or by the local patriotic overseas Chinese organization.
Article 9 After receiving an online application for filing a case, the respondent court shall make the following handling:
（1） If it complies with the provisions of the law, it shall be registered and filed in a timely manner;
（2） If the pleadings and materials submitted do not meet the requirements, the parties shall be informed at one time to make corrections within 15 days. If it is difficult for the parties to make corrections within 15 days, they may apply to the court of appeal to extend the time limit for making corrections to 30 days. If the party concerned fails to make corrections as required within the specified time limit and fails to apply for extension of the time limit for making corrections, the filing materials shall be returned for disposal;
（3） If it does not conform to the legal provisions, it can return the materials online and explain the specific reasons;
（4） If it is impossible to immediately determine whether the case is in compliance with the law, it shall decide whether to file the case within 7 working days.
Cross border litigants can query the processing progress and filing results online.
Article 10 If the filing materials submitted by the cross-border litigants contain the following contents, the sued court shall not register the case:
（1） Endanger national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security;
（2） Undermine national unity, ethnic unity and religious policies;
（3） Violating laws and regulations, divulging state secrets and harming national interests;
（4） Insult and slander others, make personal attacks, abuse and slander, and refuse to modify after being informed by the court;
（5） The matter complained of does not fall within the jurisdiction of the people’s court;
（6） Other prosecutions that do not conform to the provisions of the law.
Article 11 Other litigation matters shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Article 12 These Provisions shall come into force as of February 3, 2021.