Study On The Time Limit For Concluding A Trial In A Civil Case Of First Instance

The system of time limit for concluding a trial in a civil case of first instance is very important to protecting the judge’s adjudication by law and to protecting the legal rights of the parties as well. In the background of comprehensively implementing governing the country by law, the Central Committee of the Chinese Community Party s Decision on a Number of Important Issues in Relation to Comprehensively Implementing Governing the Country by Law was ratified on the Fourth Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 23,2014, which fully affirmed the importance of judicial reform. In the revised Civil Procedural Law of 2012 and the Judicial Interpretation on the Civil Procedural Law issued in 2015, the regulations concerning the time limit for concluding a trial in a civil case of first instance in the former Civil Procedural Law were adopted. To be specific, the time limit for concluding a summary trial in a civil case of first instance is three months while the time limit for concluding a trial of ordinary procedure is six months. In addition, the dean of the court is authorized to examine and approve the extension of the time limit for concluding a trial. However, the regulations on the time limit for concluding a trial in a case of first instance are too vague in the Civil Procedural Law. There are no specific regulations on the causes and the times for extending the time limit for concluding a trial in a civil case of first instance in the law, either. Therefore, the system of the time limit for concluding a trail in a civil case of first instance has to be specified and improved urgently to lay a solid foundation for the judicial organization’s just and timely adjudication and the guarantee of the parties’legitimate procedural rights. This thesis starts from the concept of the time limit for concluding a trial in a civil case of first instance, summarizes the current legislation on the time limit for concluding a trial in a civil case of first instance, analyzes the problems existed in the system of the time limit for concluding a trial in a civil case of first instance and puts forward suggestions on improving the system of our country.