China - Central Authority (Art. 2) and practical information
Central Authority(ies):
Ministry of Justice
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Contact details: |
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| Address: | Ministry of Justice of China International Legal Cooperation Center (ILCC) 33, Pinganli Xidajie Xicheng District Beijing 100035 China |
| Telephone: | +86 10 5560 4537 |
| Fax: | +86 10 5560 4538 |
| E-mail: | ivylee319@vip.sina.com |
| General website: | http://en.moj.gov.cn/ |
| Contact person: | Ms Zhiying Li |
| Languages spoken by staff: | Chinese, English |
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Practical Information |
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| Blocking statutes: |
A foreign embassy or consulate to the People's Republic of China may serve documents on and take evidence from its citizens but shall not violate the laws of the People's Republic of China and shall not take compulsory measures. Except for the circumstances in the preceding paragraph, no foreign authority or individual shall, without permission from the competent authorities of the People's Republic of China, serve documents or take evidence within the territory of the People's Republic of China. |
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Chapter I |
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| Transmission of Letters of Requests: | With the exception of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, the request is forwarded firstly to the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China, which in turn transfers the request to the central authority of the requested country. The higher people's courts of the above-mentioned five provinces transfer the request directly to the central authority of the requested country. |
| Authority responsible for informing of the time and place of the execution of Letter of Request (Art. 7): |
Central Authority |
| Presence of judicial personnel at the execution of the Letter of Request (Art. 8): | No declaration. |
| Privileges and duties existing under the law of States other than the State of origin and the State of execution (Art. 11): |
No declaration. |
| Translation requirements Arts 4(2) and 33): |
In order to facilitate and expedite the execution of the request, the requesting country is strongly recommended to provide Chinese translations whenever possible. |
| Costs relating to execution of the Letters of Request (Arts 14(2)(3) and 26): |
Normally no cost required to be reimbursed except for extraordinarily large costs relating to execution of the request. |
| Time for execution: | 6-12 months. |
| Pre-trial discovery of documents Art. 23): |
Qualified exclusion. See declarations. |
| Information about domestic rules on the taking of evidence: |
CHAPTER VI Evidence CHAPTER X Compulsory Measures Against Obstruction of Civil Proceedings Part 4,Chapter 27 of the Civil Procedural Law of People`s Republic of China |
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Witness examination under Chapter I |
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| Should Letters of Request include specific questions to be used during witness examination or only a list of matters to be addressed? | A specific question list is preferred. |
| Is it a public or private hearing? | In practice, it is usually not conducted in public. |
| Do the judicial authorities "blue-pencil" Letters of Requests (i.e. rephrase, restructure and / or strike out objectionable questions or offensive wording so that a Letter of Request may be executed under the laws of the requested State)? | |
| Is the witness provided in advance with a copy of the questions / matters to be addressed as contained in the Letter of Request? | |
| Are documents produced by the witness authenticated by the court? | No. |
| Is an oath generally administered to the witness? | Not necessary, but the judicial official who takes evidence will explain with him about the legal consequences for the act of perjury. |
| Can the witness be made subject to further examination and recall? | It depends on the decision made by the judges from the requested counties. |
| Are there sanctions for non-appearance of witness? | No. |
| Must interpreters who assist with the witness examination be court-certified? | The interpreters should be provided by the qualified translation companies, or be accepted by all parties. |
| How is the testimony transcribed? | |
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Chapter II |
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| Article 15 | Applicable |
| Article 16 | Not applicable |
| Article 17 | Not applicable |
| Article 18 | Not applicable |
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Taking of evidence by video-links |
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Chapter I |
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| Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? | |
| Technology used: | |
| Level of interpretation required: | |
| Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: | |
| Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? | |
| Who pays for the interpretation? | |
| How would a request for evidence be handled if witness not willing? | |
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Chapter II |
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| Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? | |
| Technology used: | |
| Level of interpretation required: | |
| Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: | |
| Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? | |
| Who pays for the interpretation? | |
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Other Information |
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| Bilateral or multilateral agreements | 39 bilateral treaties on judicial assistance in civil matters between China and other countries. |
| Useful links: |
Online treaty library: http://treaty.mfa.gov.cn/Treaty/web/index.jsp China law library: https://flk.npc.gov.cn/ |
| Competent authorities (Art. 17) | N/A |
| Additional authorities (Art. 24) | No. |
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