Text | Reporter Shen Yang
"In terms of promoting the development and growth of the private economy, it is hoped that the people's courts will continue to give full play to their adjudication functions, strengthen the uniform application of the law, take into account the reasonableness and reasonableness of the legal directors, and increase the degree of protection. At the same time, strengthen the accountability mechanism, and punish acts that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs in accordance with the law. Lv Hongbing, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the board of supervisors of the All China Lawyers Association, said.
The private economy is not only an important part of the mainland's economy, but also a key force in promoting high-quality economic development. In the new era and new journey, we must give full play to the role of the private economy as a new force and an important force, and we cannot do without the guarantee of the rule of law.
Liu Guixiang, a full-time member of the adjudication committee of the Supreme People's Court, stressed that the Supreme People's Court is committed to improving the system of equal protection, ensuring that private enterprises enjoy the same status as state-owned enterprises before the law, and at the same time protecting the personality rights and property rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, so as to create a fair, stable, and predictable legal environment for the development of the private economy.
On March 10, the Supreme People's Court held the fourth all-media live interview in the series of interpretations of the "Work Report of the Supreme People's Court" of the 2024 National People's Congress and the National People's Congress, introducing the new measures and achievements of the people's courts to ensure the development and growth of the private economy in accordance with the law.
On March 10, the Supreme People's Court held the fourth interview in the series of all-media live broadcasts of the "Work Report of the Supreme People's Court" of the 2024 National People's Congress and the National People's Congress to introduce the new measures and achievements of the people's courts to ensure the development and growth of the private economy in accordance with the law
In recent years, the Supreme People's Court has made unprecedented efforts to continuously optimize the environment for the development of the private economy. On December 27, 2023, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce released the conclusion of the 2023 survey on the business environment of 10,000 private enterprises, showing that private enterprises' satisfaction with the improvement of the business environment continued to increase, and the score of the rule of law environment ranked first for four consecutive years in the "five major environments" of factors, government affairs, market, rule of law, and innovation.
"Some online self-media disseminate false information and publish false remarks in the Internet space based on motives such as gaining traffic and attracting attention, which has a serious negative impact on the reputation of private enterprises and entrepreneurs. Gao Xiaoli, president of the Second Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, pointed out that in recent years, the people's courts have effectively strengthened judicial protection in response to the illegal acts of infringement of personality rights that have been strongly reflected by private enterprises and entrepreneurs, so as to create a favorable public opinion environment for the development of the private economy.
Improve the system of equal protection
As a member of the legal profession community, Gao Zicheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress and president of the All China Lawyers Association, is very concerned about the people's courts' efforts to provide judicial services and protect the private economy.
"The Supreme People's Court has made sure that there are comprehensive and equal protections in accordance with the law, protecting the trustworthy and fulfilling promises, carrying forward the spirit of contract, and using the certainty of the rule of law to stabilize market expectations and enhance confidence in development. Gao Zicheng commented on the Supreme People's Court's work in continuously optimizing the legal environment for the development and expansion of the private economy.
In July 2023, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy", releasing a positive signal to enhance the confidence of private entrepreneurs and encourage the development and growth of the private economy.
In order to fully implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, and at the same time respond to social concerns, in October 2023, the Supreme People's Court issued the Guiding Opinions on Optimizing the Legal Environment and Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), which makes detailed provisions on protecting the property rights of private enterprises and the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, maintaining a unified, fair and honest market competition environment, using the rule of law to promote the development and governance of private enterprises, and improving the quality and efficiency of judicial trial guarantees.
Gao Zicheng said that the "Opinions" comprehensively sorted out the combination and focus points of the rule of law to ensure the development and growth of the private economy. The Supreme People's Court adheres to the problem-oriented approach, protects the property rights of private enterprises and the lawful rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, maintains a unified, fair and honest market competition environment, and does a solid job of serving the overall situation and administering justice for the people in the legal environment of continuously optimizing the development of the private economy.
"The Supreme People's Court has always attached great importance to the protection of the property rights of private enterprises and the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, and has successively issued a series of judicial policies and documents to continuously improve the institutional system for the protection of the property rights of private enterprises and the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs. In the past year, in response to the outstanding problems reported by private enterprises, the people's courts have adopted a series of work measures to maintain the 'stability' of development with the 'certainty' of the rule of law. Zhou Lunjun, vice president of the Second Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, said.
Zhou Lunjun pointed out that the people's courts persist in taking social harmfulness as the fundamental criterion for judging whether a crime is a crime, resolutely correct the handling of economic disputes as crimes, and resolutely prevent and correct the use of administrative or criminal means to intervene in economic disputes. In the first and second instances, 16 enterprises and 34 business owners and managers were acquitted in accordance with the law, and 42 criminal wrongful cases involving property rights were corrected in accordance with the law, and 86 people were corrected in accordance with the law.
In recent years, with the rapid development of Internet technology, disputes over the infringement of the reputation rights and interests of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs through online rumors and other means have occurred from time to time, causing a certain degree of distress to private enterprises and private entrepreneurs.
In July 2023, the Supreme People's Court released typical cases on the people's courts protecting the property rights of private enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law. Among them, in the case of Xiaomi v. Internet Infringement, the Beijing Internet Court promptly ruled that the respondent should immediately delete the infringing articles and videos in accordance with the application to prevent further damage to the reputation rights of private enterprises, demonstrating the judicial attitude of the people's courts to crack down on malicious damage to the reputation rights of enterprises in accordance with the law, and greatly enhancing the confidence of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs in protecting their rights.
This case also warns self-media operators that they should speak out honestly and objectively when conducting public opinion supervision, and create an honest, civilized and orderly public opinion environment for the development of private enterprises. Zhou Lunjun said.
Wang Lianzeng, deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Huayu Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., said that the people's court responded to the problems of slandering the reputation of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs, malicious competition between enterprises, and slandering each other, so as to show the judicial attitude and make private enterprises and private entrepreneurs feel at ease to run enterprises and seek development.
Protect the environment for fair competition and innovation
"In the cases heard by the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, most of the parties are private enterprises. Xu Zhonglin, vice president of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, introduced.
The Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court adheres to the equal protection of all types of market entities, strengthens the judicial protection of the scientific and technological innovation achievements of private enterprises, and continuously optimizes the legal environment for the development and growth of private enterprises. Ma Yide, a deputy to the National People's Congress and a professor at the School of Intellectual Property of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, paid attention to the intellectual property dispute case between two "specialized, special and new" private enterprises handled by the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court in 2023.
In this case, both the original defendant and the defendant are "unicorn" enterprises in the field of intelligent logistics robots in China, and many cases between the two parties have been brought to court. After learning about the disputes between them, the case-handling team adhered to the judicial concept of substantive dispute resolution and promotion of win-win cooperation, and facilitated the two parties to reach a comprehensive settlement through mediation, and resolved 14 intellectual property disputes filed by both parties in courts at all levels and the State Intellectual Property Office in a "package", which not only enabled the enterprise to focus on operation, but also maintained market order and promoted the high-quality development of industrial innovation and "new track".
"In the process of operation of the majority of private enterprises, especially small and medium-sized private enterprises, there is an urgent need for the accuracy and effectiveness of intellectual property protection. Ma Yide suggested that to further improve the protection of intellectual property rights, the people's courts can introduce diversified dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation. Coordinate the construction of a special jurisdiction system for intellectual property cases that crosses administrative divisions, systematically and reasonably plan the layout of local intellectual property courts, and further accelerate the construction of specialized intellectual property trials in local courts.
A textile printing and dyeing enterprise in Zhejiang has been fined many times, resulting in the rupture of the capital chain and the semi-suspension of business. In this regard, the local court, together with the environmental protection department, urged the company to comply with the rectification, so that it was able to pay off its debts and fully resume work and production, and the output value in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by 85.7% year-on-year, achieving a "win-win, multi-win, win-win" situation of ecological environment, economic benefits and ecological benefits.
"Through this case, it can be seen that the people's court actively urges the enterprises involved in the case to carry out compliance rectification, so that the enterprises can be reborn, and contribute to the healthy development of private enterprises on the track of the rule of law. Yu Li, deputy to the National People's Congress and general manager of Jiajialiang Housekeeping Service Co., Ltd. in Ruzhou City, Henan Province, praised.
Vigorously promoting corporate compliance reform and helping private enterprises enhance their "immunity" is also an important measure deployed by the people's courts in 2023. Over the past year, the people's courts at all levels have earnestly changed their concept of handling cases, insisting on paying equal attention to punishment and governance, and urging the enterprises involved in the case to make compliance commitments and actively rectify the problems and potential risks of the enterprises involved in the case while handling cases in accordance with the law, so as to truly achieve both "strict management" and "true love" for private enterprises.
Since March 2023, the Supreme People's Court has joined the Management Committee of the Third-Party Supervision and Assessment Mechanism for Enterprise Compliance Reform, and guided local courts at all levels to actively carry out the practice of compliance reform of enterprises involved in cases, and for private enterprises that can be sentenced to suspended sentences or exempted from criminal punishment in accordance with the law, work with the procuratorate to complete the criminal compliance reform of enterprises involved in cases, and promote the compliance operation of 658 private enterprises involved in cases while applying criminal compliance procedures and lenient punishments in accordance with law.
"It should be noted that the compliance reform of the enterprises involved in the case has achieved great results, but there are still some problems in the work. For example, some courts and judges do not have a sufficient understanding of the importance of corporate compliance reform, which affects the advancement of the compliance reform of enterprises involved in cases, and the supporting mechanisms are not sound enough, and some third-party supervision and evaluation mechanisms are not in place to ensure and supervise the mechanisms, so it is necessary to further strengthen efforts to solve the difficulties and bottlenecks in the reform. Gao Xiaoli said.
Many deputies and committee members said that the compliance reform of enterprises involved in cases needs the improvement of various supporting mechanisms, so as to maximize the compliance reform of enterprises involved in cases as a more fundamental and important role in the "management of litigation sources".
"Strengthen communication and coordination, and unite the joint efforts of all parties. The relevant person in charge of the Second Criminal Division of the Supreme People's Court said that it is necessary to closely rely on the leadership of the political and legal committee of the party committee; it is necessary to strive for the support of the procuratorate, public security and other departments, strengthen docking, deepen coordination, and form a joint force; it is necessary to establish a multi-departmental coordination and cooperation working mechanism, and set aside interfaces for compliance in all aspects of the judiciary, so as to realize the connection of the whole process and strengthen operability.
Bankruptcy reorganization helps enterprises to reborn
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises have relatively weak economic strength and anti-risk ability, and often suffer from unequal contract terms and arrears.
"Most of the private enterprises are small, medium and micro enterprises, which are generally small in scale and weak in their ability to resist risks, and are prone to financial crisis. However, with the help of the rule of law, enterprises can get out of the predicament, and private enterprises will have confidence, confidence and motivation in their hearts. Huang Dayong, deputy project manager of the airport branch of Chongqing Security Group Zhongxin Security Service Co., Ltd., a deputy to the National People's Congress, learned that the people's court has improved the identification mechanism for enterprise reorganization and relied on the "government-court linkage" to save enterprises in financial difficulties but still have development prospects in accordance with the law, and promote the comeback of private enterprises.
"The third-level courts in Chongqing have rescued a number of distressed local enterprises by continuously strengthening bankruptcy trials, providing a strong judicial guarantee for optimizing the business environment under the rule of law. Huang Dayong said.
In 2023, the people's courts at all levels will play a role in judicial functions to help the development of small, medium and micro enterprises. The people's courts have made full use of the "green channel" of multiple dispute resolution mechanisms, small claims expedited adjudication, and fast initiation, fast trial and fast enforcement to resolve disputes involving small, medium and micro enterprises at low cost, and help small and medium-sized enterprises to recover their accounts in a timely manner. For enterprises that are in financial distress but still have development prospects and salvage value, the court guides them to obtain "early rescue" and "real rescue" through bankruptcy reorganization and reconciliation procedures, and to be reborn through fair liquidation of debts.
In 2023, courts across the country will conclude more than 28,500 bankruptcy cases, resolve 2.32 trillion yuan of non-performing debts, successfully save 762 enterprises, revitalize assets of 879 billion yuan, and stabilize the employment of 118397 employees.
So, how to break the impasse of "no property can be broken"?
Liang started his business in 2018, and his debts accumulated to more than 750,000 yuan, and he was finally unable to repay. The Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, conducted a comprehensive review of the debtor's property, debts and family situation, ruled that the personal bankruptcy reorganization procedure should be applied, negotiated with the creditor to waive interest and late fees, and used all other income to repay the debt, except for 7,700 yuan per month for the basic living of the whole family of four, and repaid the principal within three years. Liang worked hard, actively repaid his debts, and completed the performance 15 months ahead of schedule. In June 2023, the execution of the country's first personal bankruptcy case was completed.
Zhou Lunjun believes that the trial of this case provides a "practical sample" for personal bankruptcy reorganization cases. The court has accumulated experience through the handling of individual cases, and has also disseminated to the society the guidance of the personal bankruptcy system to save "honest and unfortunate" debtors, which embodies the value of the personal bankruptcy reorganization system, demonstrates the rescue and protection concept of the personal bankruptcy system, and lays a solid foundation for the in-depth promotion and implementation of the personal bankruptcy system.
"The trial of personal bankruptcy cases is of great significance to optimizing the business environment under the rule of law and helping high-quality economic development. I firmly believe that the judiciary can make economic and social development better and better. Pan Baochun, deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Hefei Royalstar Electronic and Electrical Appliances Group Co., Ltd., said.
Strengthen goodwill and civilized enforcement
In the process of enforcement, the people's courts adhere to strict, lawful, fair, and civilized enforcement, basically realizing full coverage of the main forms of property of the person subject to enforcement, and at the same time continuously increasing the intensity of enforcement to ensure that the rights and interests of the winning private enterprises are realized in a timely manner. The Supreme People's Court has released a series of typical cases to guide courts at all levels to ensure the realization of the lawful rights and interests of the winning parties in the course of enforcement.
This is a typical case of saving a private enterprise in financial distress in accordance with the law and demonstrating the people's court's concept of goodwill and civilized enforcement.
In a series of enforcement cases involving Dongying Penghao Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., the Intermediate People's Court of Dongying City, Shandong Province, in the enforcement procedure, introduced investment to resume the construction of the unfinished building involved in the case in accordance with the law, properly resolved the claims of nearly 900 creditors of more than 800 million yuan, paid the wages of migrant workers in full, and stabilized the employment of employees.
Zhou Lunjun introduced that the people's court has continuously reduced the cost of enforcement through online judicial auctions, so that more "real money" can be put into the pockets of winning private enterprises. At the same time, courts at all levels have strengthened the concept of good faith and civilized enforcement, doing more things to "release water to raise fish" and less "fishing with all their might" in enforcement, so as to minimize the impact on the production and operation of the enterprise subject to enforcement.
"The people's courts continue to strengthen the enforcement of cases of arrears to private enterprises, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, to ensure that private enterprises can withdraw funds in a timely manner and solve difficulties for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Liu Guixiang said that in the disposal of property, the people's court flexibly uses legal means such as temporary unsealing to allow the seized person to dispose of property under the supervision of the court, enhance the liquidity of assets as much as possible, and enable enterprises to gradually restore their "hematopoietic function". In the course of enforcement, where a settlement is reached between the parties or the person subject to enforcement or a person not involved in the case provides appropriate security, the people's court shall suspend or suspend enforcement in accordance with law.
"The private economy is an important foundation for high-quality development, and the rule of law is the best business environment. Zhang Ronghua, deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of the board of directors of Tianjin Rongcheng Xiangtai Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., said with deep feeling that in the past year, the people's courts have been able to implement and actively act, and through the issuance of guiding opinions on promoting the development and growth of the private economy, and other initiatives, the modernization of trial work has helped private enterprises improve confidence, stabilize expectations, and promote development.
Cover and table of contents of this issue
China Trial, Issue 5, 2024
China Trial News Semi-Monthly No. 339
Editor/Xu Chang