In order to settle small civil disputes timely and conveniently and in accordance with the provisions of Article 162 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People 's Republic of China, where the amount of the subject on case filing is less than 30% of annual average wage of urban workers in last year in Guangdong, the simple civil and commercial cases with clear facts, legal relationships or less dispute of monetary payments will be applied to the small litigation procedure that the first instance is final.
26.1. Only the Following Cases are Applicable for Small Claims Procedures:
26.1.1. Cases with clear legal relations involving disputes of private lending, business loans, financial loan contract, savings deposit, credit cards and otherwise.
26.1.2. Cases with clear legal relations involving disputes of sales contract, loan contract, lease contract, contract for borrowings, contract for work, service contract and other contracts.
26.1.3. Cases with clear legal relations involving disputes of arrears of water, electricity, gas, heat, property management fees and other fees.
26.1.4. Cases with clear personal status relationship of disputes in the amount, time and manner of payment concerning maintenance, upbringing, and alimony.
26.1.5. Cases with clear labor relationship of disputes in the amount, time and manner of payment concerning remuneration of labor, medical fee of work-related injury and financial compensation.
26.1.6. Cases with clear labor relationship of disputes in the amount, time and manner of payment concerning remuneration of labor.
26.1.7. Cases with clear responsibility of disputes in the amount, time and manner of payment concerning compensation for traffic accident damage and other personal and property infringement.
26.1.8. Other cases applicable for small claims procedures involving monetary payment.
26.2. Cases not Applicable for Small Claims Procedures.
26.2.1. Cases not applicable for small claims procedures regulated in the provisions of Article 257 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China are:
26.2.2. Civil and commercial cases involving foreign elements;
26.2.3. Cases involving personal relations;
26.2.4 Cases involving property right;
26.2.5.Cases involving intellectual property rights;
26.2.6.Cases involving bankruptcy;
26.2.7. Cases with complexity, new innovations, great social impacts and public attention;
26.2.8. Cases applied to the special procedure, supervision procedure or public summons procedure in accordance with the law;
26.2.9. Cases that needs evaluation, identification or with objection to the result of identification;
26.2.10. Other cases not applicable for first instance as the finality.
26.3.Regulations on Small Claims Procedures.
26.3.1.Where the amount of the subject on case filing is less than 30% of annual average wage of urban workers in last year in Guangdong, Where the annual average wage of the previous year is not published, the statistic published in recent years will prevail.
26.3.2. Small claim cases will be charged with half of the fees.
26.3.3. Small claims cases will be handled by a judge alone, generally within one month from the date of filing the case. Under the special circumstances, it may be extended to three months after approval.
26.3.4. The small lawsuit procedure will be simplified, the time limit for producing evidence and defense will be shortened and the simplified format will be taken in as judgment documents.
26.3.5.The parties concerned may apply for a court session in the evening, the day off or the statutory holidays. They can also apply to the court in person for the examination of witnesses.
26.3.6. Small claims cases will be subject to the first instance as the finality. If the judgment is concluded, the judgment should not be appealed.
26.3.7.In small claims cases, the parties concerned will be informed with relevant procedures and notice at the time of case filing. The objections to the small claims procedure can be brought up before hearing. If the objection is decided justified, it will be applicable to the general rule or proceedings. The judgment or verdict can be appealed after the conversion process. Where the objection is unsubstantiated, it will be informed to the party concerned and written in court record.
26.4. Proof and Defence in Small Claim Cases.
26.4.1. The time period for producing evidences in small claim cases will be determined by the court, or negotiated by the parties concerned with the permission of the court, but generally not longer than seven days.
26.4.2. If the defendant is required with written pleadings, the court may reasonably determine the period of defense with the consent of the defendant, but the maximum length will not exceed fifteen days.
26.4.3. The parties may negotiate to give up or shorten the period of proof and defense, and if the parties give up, the court may arrange the hearing immediately.
26.4.4. If the defendant submits a pleading, the court may, before the hearing, inform the plaintiff of the defense by telephone, cell phone message, fax, e-mail or other means, or may file a pleading to the plaintiff at the hearing.
26.5. Judgment of Small Claims
26.5.1. Judgment of small claims announced in trial may apply to the written summary judgment. Summary judgment no longer records your plea argument, reasons and reasons for court decisions, and the foregoing content is fully recorded in the trial transcript. If you are not clear about the reasons for judgment, you should apply to the court for a copy of the records.
26.5.2. A complete record of the trial is important to your rights protection, and you should be concerned about your claim and reasons for judgment written in the court record. If there is any record missed, you can remind the court to record or correct it in time.
26.5.3.The small claims will not be subject to appeal after the judgment. You may apply to the court for questions after the judgment of the small claims, and the content of the questions will be recorded. If you refuse to accept the judgment, you may apply for a retrial.
