Study On The Principle Of Reciprocity In The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Court Judgments

The principle of reciprocity is one of the applicable conditions in the recognition and enforcement of judgments in most countries nowadays.However,the traditional concept of reciprocity often buryes the seeds of the "retaliation"idea,the principle of reciprocity sometimes becomes an excuse and a tool for a country to refuse to recognize and enforce foreign court judgments,thus violating the original intention of promoting win-win cooperation when the principle is introduced into the system of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments.As a result,many scholars have raised doubts and objections to the principle of reciprocity,and many countries have amended their domestic laws to exclude it from the system of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments.The status about the principle of reciprocity is in jeopardy.In the 1990s,the United States,which first proposed "rejecting the principle of reciprocity",unexpectedly "recalled" the principle of reciprocity and put forward the initiative to formulate an international convention for the recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments.Starting from this,the principle of reciprocity and its research on the existence and application began to warm up again in the international community and became a hot topic for scholars.In practice,the principle of reciprocity has developed continuously,from the identification of reciprocal relations to the application of the principle of reciprocity,etc.,all have new connotations.From traditional factual reciprocity,treaty reciprocity to legal reciprocity,to the liberalization of legal reciprocity and the derivation of presumptive reciprocity,the principle of reciprocity has not disappeared in international judicial practice,but has become more flexible and operable,and has become an important factor in promoting the free circulation of domestic judgments worldwide.In the recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments,China has always adhered to the traditional cautious attitude and regards the application of the principle of reciprocity as a "safety valve" in the process of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in China.However,with the frequent exchanges of foreign trade and economic cooperation and the continuous expansion of the national diplomatic circle,the demand for international cooperation in the civil and commercial fields has also been greatly enhanced.The traditional conservative reciprocal attitude has greatly hampered the mutual circulation of court decisions between China and other countries.From the point of view,it is imperative to change the concept of application of the principle of reciprocity and improve its connotation and operation from the legislative and judicial practice levels,so as to promote the free circulation of judgments of Chinese and foreign courts and enhance international cooperation between them.