Corporate Counsel Team: Huaicheng lawyers
Edit | July
Author | Huaicheng lawyer Yu Kejie
Yu Kejie
Liaoning Huaicheng Law Firm
Corporate Counsel in Civil Litigation
Corporate restructuring and mergers and acquisitions
As the saying goes: to fight a lawsuit is to fight evidence.
Winning a lawsuit is often based on conclusive evidence and a complete chain of evidence.
However, in reality, most people neglect to keep evidence, or do not consciously collect and sort out evidence at all, so when they are prosecuted, they can only provide copies of evidence.
As we all know, photocopies cannot be used as evidence and are basically not accepted by the courts.
So, must the photocopy not be used as evidence?
1
Proof of loss of the original
Sue with a photocopy
Today I will bring you a case.
Mr. Wang contracted the civil part of a project of Company A, and the two parties signed the Labor Contract Agreement.
During the construction period, Wang purchased materials on credit from building materials store B, and building materials store B issued an invoice for the corresponding material costs.
Wang issued a certificate to B building materials store, stating that he owed 135629 yuan to B building materials store for the remaining materials.
However, due to the chaotic daily management of B building materials store and the neglect of keeping, the original certificate has now been lost.
Mr. Sun, an employee of Mr. Wang, had issued a certificate to Mr. B's building materials store, stating that he owed Mr. 32,254 yuan for the remaining materials of Mr. B's building materials store.
Later, the building materials store B failed to urge it many times, and sued the court, requesting that company A be ordered to pay 167883 yuan of interest on the price payable.
2
Photocopies as evidence
Two conditions must be met
(Click on the image to ask a lawyer)
According to article 73 of the Civil Procedure Law, documentary evidence shall be submitted in originals, physical evidence shall be submitted in originals, and where it is truly difficult to submit originals or originals, reproductions, photographs, copies, or excerpts may be submitted.
<民事诉讼法>Article 110 of the Interpretation stipulates that it is indeed difficult to submit the original documentary evidence as provided for in Article 73 of the Civil Procedure Law, including the loss, destruction or damage of the original documentary evidence.
<民事诉讼法>Article 61 of the Relevant Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Evidence stipulates that when cross-examining documentary evidence, physical evidence, or audio-visual materials, the parties shall present the original or original evidence.
However, in any of the following circumstances, there are exceptions: (1) There is real difficulty in presenting the original or the original and the people's court has permission to present the copy or reproduction...
Although the main evidence in this case is a photocopy, there is a large amount of other evidence corroborating each other with the photocopy, which can confirm the authenticity of the original and the photocopy.
Moreover, all the evidence in this case can form a complete chain of evidence and prove the facts to be proven, so although the evidence in this case is a copy, it can ultimately be used as evidence materials.
In this case, it was determined that Wang and B building materials stores did have a sales contract relationship, and Wang contracted the civil engineering part of a project of company A, so company A should pay the arrears to B building materials stores.
In the end, the court made a judgment in favor of B's claim for building materials stores.
Based on this case and related cases, the court's adjudication rules show that the parties' submission of copies for use as evidence is not automatically invalid evidence, and whether it can be used as the basis for a verdict should be judged in conjunction with other evidence and the specific circumstances of the case.
As long as other evidence can be corroborated, so that the facts to be proved meet the standard of proof of "high probability" in laws and regulations, the photocopy can also be used as the basis for the verdict.
3
Huaicheng lawyer suggested
Based on practical experience and the adjudication rules of similar cases, Huaicheng lawyers provide the following suggestions for your reference:
1. The original evidence shall be kept well, and multiple copies may be signed and retained when necessary.
2. Actively collect other evidence such as emails, chat records, and manifests related to the facts to be proven.
3. If only copies of evidence can be provided, it is necessary to collect and obtain other evidence, and corroborate each other with the copies to form a complete chain of evidence, which can not only confirm the authenticity of the original and the copy, but also conclusively prove the facts to be proven.
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Case Source:
A hardware, electromechanical and building materials store in Yache County v. a transportation (group) co., LTD., a branch of a transportation (group) co., LTD. of the Xinjiang Corps, and a dispute over a sales contract by Zhou, Intermediate People's Court of the Third Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (2022) Bing 03 Min Zhong No. 107
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