Courts fail to enforce rulings in more than half of all lawsuits
More than half of the rulings in mainland civil-court cases are not implemented, seriously undermining authority in the administration of justice, Xinhua reported yesterday.
This had led to calls for a review of the situation, it said.
Hu Pingxi, an NPC deputy and governor of the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, was quoted as saying money was often lost when state-owned enterprises (SOEs) sued over unpaid debt but still refused to pay the fine or the debt.
Only one in eight successful lawsuits by banks against SOEs results in the damages awarded being paid to plaintiffs.
Mr Hu questioned the logic of the government giving the enterprises money to pay the fines.
Wang Wuding, another NPC deputy from Pudong in Shanghai, said courts should work to have the rulings in more cases enforced.
He said lawmakers should think about how to provide legal guarantees for court rulings to be followed, how to prevent debt dodging and how to co-ordinate actions with other departments.
Forty per cent of civil court judgments in Shanghai are not enforced.
Xinhua noted that local and sectoral protectionism had also made it difficult for the courts to enforce rulings, as the receipts and expenditure of courts were controlled by local governments.
Li Daoming, an NPC deputy and president of the Henan Provincial Higher People's Court, said inadequate funding of courts was another reason for failure to enforce the law.
By the end of 2002, staff in 101 courts in Henan were owed 47.57 million yuan in unpaid salaries.
'This has not only held back the capabilities of courts in hearing cases and in enforcing rulings, but also resulted in partiality in enforcing the law and even in violation of the law in handling cases,' Mr Li said.
