Reflections On Minor Procedure In China

As one of the representative law importing countries as well as the rising star of market economy, China has selectively transplanted the small claims procedure so as to relieve the contradiction between scarce judicial resources and people’s infinite demand of judicial resources. After two years of juridical practice, China has made some achievements, yet due to rough and inattentive content of the procedure and the limitation of external environment, the small claims procedure did not realize its expectant objective. Therefore, the Supreme People’s Court issued Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Some Issues about the Application of the Law of Civil Procedure of the People’s Republic of China on January 30, 2015 to make a series of detailed provisions on small claims procedure, trying to change the awkward predicament small claims procedure currently faces. However, it is worth noting that the judicial interpretation’s detailed provisions on small claims procedure this time are not complete enough, and many content still can not satisfy the needs of the implementation of small claims procedure. Therefore, by making a comparison of small claims procedure in China and those in other countries and regions, combining China’s practical situation and its value pursuit in establishing small claims procedure, the paper strives to reflect on and improve the application range, starting mode, relief mechanism etc. of China’s small claims procedure. In addition, by perfecting the entire judicial environment and strengthening mutual cooperation inside the civil procedure system, the paper tries to provide external force support for the development of small claims procedure so as to realize the local advancement of small claims procedure in China and eventually achieve its proper value.The paper is divided into four parts:The origin and development of small claims procedure are introduced in the first part. By introducing the legislative background and process of small claims procedure in different countries, the paper lays a foundation for the comparative study below.The second part summarizes the generation, development and legislative value ofChina’s small claims procedure, and combines juridical practice to conduct an in-depth analysis of the reason why China’s small claims procedure is unable to achieve its expectant objective.Guided by the cause analysis in the second part, the third part not only analyzes the design of China’s small claims procedure, but also makes a comparison of small claims procedure in China and those in other countries and regions, combines China’s practical situation and its value pursuit in establishing small claims procedure to reflect on the application range, starting mode, relief mechanism etc. of China’s small claims procedure and put forward suggestions to improve it.The fourth part starts with the judicial environment’s influence on small claims procedure and the system connection inside the civil procedure system so as to probe into external force support for the development of small claims procedure.