Announcement of the Supreme People's Court

The Relevant Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning Applications for Verification of Arbitration Cases under Judicial Review, as adopted at the 1,727th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on November 20, 2017, is hereby issued and shall come into force on January 1, 2018.

Supreme People's Court

December 26, 2017

(Interpretation No. 21 [2017] of the Supreme People's Court)

Relevant Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Issues concerning Applications for Verification of Arbitration Cases under Judicial Review

In order to correctly try arbitration cases under judicial review, unify the trying standards, safeguard the lawful rights and interests of the parties according to the law, and guarantee the arbitration development, these Provisions are developed in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China, and other relevant legal provisions and in light of the judicial practice.

Article 1 The term “arbitration cases under judicial review” as mentioned in these Provisions includes the following cases:

(1) cases where an application is filed for confirming the efficacy of an arbitral award;

(2) cases where an application is filed for revoking an arbitral award rendered by an arbitration institution in the Chinese mainland;

(3) cases where an application is filed for enforcing an arbitral award rendered by an arbitration institution in the Chinese mainland;

(4) cases where an application is filed for recognizing and enforcing an arbitral award rendered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan Region;

(5) cases where an application is filed for recognizing and enforcing a foreign arbitral award; and

(6) other arbitration cases under judicial review.

Article 2 In the handling of foreign-related or Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao-related arbitration cases under judicial review, where, upon review, any intermediate people's court or special people's court is to determine the invalidity of an arbitral award, not enforce or revoke an arbitral award rendered by an arbitration institution in the Chinese mainland, not enforce or revoke an arbitral award rendered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, or Taiwan Region, or not recognize or enforce a foreign arbitral award, the intermediate people's court or special people's court shall file an application for verification with the higher people's court within the jurisdiction; Where, upon review, the higher people's court is to approve the application, it shall file an application for verification with the Supreme People's Court. Upon review of the Supreme People's Court, the intermediate people's court or special people's court may render a ruling based on the review opinions of the Supreme People's Court.

In the handling of non-foreign-related or non-Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan-related arbitration cases under judicial review, where, upon review, any intermediate people's court or special people's court is to determine the invalidity of an arbitral award, or not enforce or revoke an arbitral award rendered by an arbitration institution in the Chinese mainland, the intermediate people's court or special people's court shall file an application for verification with the higher people's court within the jurisdiction; Upon review of the higher people's court, the intermediate people's court or special people's court may render a ruling based on the review opinions of the higher people's court.

Article 3 For non-foreign or non-Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan-related arbitration cases under judicial review as prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article 2 of these Provisions, where, upon review, the higher people's court is to approve the determination of the intermediate people's court or special people's court on the invalidity of an arbitral award, non-enforcement or revocation of an arbitral award rendered by an arbitration institution in the Chinese mainland, under any of the following circumstances, the higher people's court shall file an application for verification with the Supreme People's Court. Upon review of the Supreme People's Court, the intermediate people's court or special people's court may render a ruling based on the review opinions of the Supreme People's Court:

(1) The domiciles of the parties to an arbitration case under judicial review are in different provincial administrative regions.

(2) The arbitral award rendered by an arbitration institution in the Chinese mainland is not enforced or is revoked on the ground of violating public interests.

Article 4 For a case where the people's court at the lower level files an application with the people's court at the higher level for verification, the people's court at the lower level shall concurrently submit a written report and case files. The written report shall state the review opinions and specific grounds.

Article 5 Where, upon receipt of an application for verification from the people's court at the lower level, the people's court at the higher level finds that the relevant case facts are unclear, the people's court at the higher level may inquire the parties or send the application back to the people's court at the lower level for supplementary finding of facts and then the people's court at the lower level may submit an application again.

Article 6 The people's courts at the higher level shall make a reply to the people's court at the lower level in the form of a reply letter.

Article 7 In civil action cases, where the people's court renders a ruling on not accepting a case, dismissing the appeal, or raising an objection to jurisdiction since the case involves efficacy of an arbitral award, any party refuses to accept the ruling and appeals, the people's court of second instance is to determine that the arbitral award is untenable, invalid, or invalidated, or the arbitral award fails to be enforced due to its unspecific content, an application for verification shall be filed level by level in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of these Provisions. Upon review of the people's court at the higher level, a ruling may be rendered based on the review opinions of the people's court at the higher level.

Article 8 These Provisions shall come into force on January 1, 2018. Where the judicial interpretations previously issued by the Supreme People's Court are inconsistent with these Provisions, these Provisions shall prevail.

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*The original text is Chinese and has been translated into English for reference only. If there is any inconsistency or ambiguity between the Chinese version and the English version, the Chinese version shall prevail.