On The Principle Of Reciprocity In Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Judgments In China

As one of the important conditions in the recognition and enforcement system of foreign judgments,the principle of reciprocity plays an important role in private international law.Whether an effective transnational judgment can be recognized and enforced in a foreign country is a key link in the international civil procedure.It is related to the legitimate interests of the parties involved in foreign-related civil and commercial cases,and also has a direct impact on the independence of a country's judicial sovereignty.At present,China's application of the principle of reciprocity in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is undergoing major changes.In the past practice,China has always refused the judgments sentenced by foreign counties that have not signed the mutual legal assistance treaty on the grounds of lack of reciprocity.In 2015,for the first time,based on factual reciprocity,China recognized and enforced the German civil and commercial judgments.Since then,civil and commercial judgments in the United States,Singapore,South Korea and other countries have been recognized and enforced for the same reasons,and new progress has been made with the judicial assistance of these countries.Under the new situation,China should take a more proactive approach to the issue of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments,thereby promoting civil and commercial exchanges between countries.This article uses comparative research,empirical analysis and other methods to expound the legislation and practice of the reciprocity principle in the international community's recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments,and combines the current situation of China's judicial practice of reciprocity in foreign judgments.By conducting a thorough analysis and discussing the current problems of the principle of reciprocity in recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments,this article would like to draw on some relevant suggestions based on the practices of the international community.This article is divided into three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the basic theories of the principle of reciprocity in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments,and analyzes the development of that principle from a historical perspective.It points out that the current international society tends to explain the principle of reciprocity easily.The second chapter discusses the legislation and practice of countries in respect of the principle of reciprocity in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.On the question of whether or not to apply the principle of reciprocity,different countries have three different approaches: full reciprocity,incomplete reciprocity and abandonment of reciprocity.As to the identification of reciprocity standards,there are three modes: factual reciprocity,legal reciprocity and presumption of reciprocity.The third chapter analyzes the current reciprocity in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in China from the perspective of legislation and practice.It points out that due to the ambiguity in legislation China adopts a more conservative position on the determination of reciprocal relations in practice.On the basis of insufficient analysis,it puts forward some suggestions for further improvement of relevant legislation in China.