Judges in civil cases will be able to refuse to consider evidence
produced beyond a certain time limit under a regulation issued
Sunday by the
Supreme
People's Court.
According to the Regulation on Evidence in Civil Lawsuits, failure
to produce evidence within the time limit will be considered a
renunciation of the right. Cross-examination on any evidence
produced afterwards will only be possible with the agreement of the
other party in the case.
The time limit for producing evidence will either be jointly
decided by the parties in a case or set by the court. If decided by
the court, the time limit should be no less than 30 days.
China's current Civil Procedure Law only stipulates parties can
produce new evidence in court but is not specific. The vagueness
has given rise to increased delay of producing evidence. Some
parties in cases avoid handing in evidence before a hearing to gain
an advantage in court.
Cao Jianming, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, said:
"This has not only violated the good-faith doctrine but also
infringed upon the legitimate rights of the other party. It
constitutes an important hurdle to the efficient handling of
cases."
Imposing a barrier to efficiency in court is the difficulty of
gathering evidence caused by the 10-year-old Civil Procedure Law,
which only sets down the principle that parties are obliged to
provide evidence to support their allegation but includes no
details.
It
is not uncommon for courts to help collect evidence in cases where
the defendant refuses to co-operate in the gathering of
evidence.
The regulation, which will take effect next April, stipulates the
defendant is obliged to produce evidence in eight kinds of cases,
including alleged patent violations, pollution and faulty products
that harm the other parties.
Parties who fail to produce evidence will "bear the disadvantageous
consequences," according to the regulation. The regulation also
stipulates materials gained by violating others' legitimate rights
or through illegal measures will not be considered as evidence.
(China
Daily December 31, 2001)