Research And Perfection Of The System Of Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Court Judgments In China Under The Perspective Of International Harmonization

This article defines and analyzes in detail the key terms "foreign","court","judgment"and "recognition and enforcement",focusing on the relationship between the recognition of a foreign court judgment and its effects after recognition,and provides an understanding of "recognition" in line with the international trend,namely,"recognition" is understood as recognition of the validity of foreign court judgments,and as a result,it produces two different legal consequences in the requested country,namely,the effect of enforcement and the effect of preclusion of the foreign court judgment.This article also analyzes and evaluates the main theoretical bases of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments,namely,international comity,vested rights or legal obligation,and reciprocity,and points out that international comity is more suitable as a theoretical basis for recognition and enforcement if it is "normative".This article analyzes the differences in domestic legislation and international coordination of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments.In addition to relying on small-scale bilateral judicial cooperation,multilateral coordination of relevant international mechanisms is urgently needed to solve this problem,which is often characterized by significant differences between countries in terms of rules and conditions for recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments.This article analyzes and evaluates in detail the domestic rules of the United States,pointing out that there are differences in the application of rules at both the federal and state levels in the United States,especially the existence of state laws in each state of the United States,and providing readers with a comparative law perspective on the differences of domestic rules in federal countries.The main conditions of review for the recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments in each country are elaborated,namely,competent jurisdiction of the court of the country of origin,finality of the foreign judgment,conformity of the foreign judgment with due process and absence of fraud exceptions,and public policy,and the differences in national legislation on the main conditions for recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments are described.The bilateral treaties,regional treaties,and international conventions that internationally coordinate this difference are described separately to lead to the two main conventions that will be focused on below.The article analyzes in detail the comparison of two global conventions,the Choice of Court Convention and the Hague Judgment Convention,and their internationally harmonized content.By comparing the interrelationship between the two conventions,the content of the two conventions is observed and analyzed,as well as how they have been internationally harmonized with respect to the global regime of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments,primarily the conditions for review of foreign judgments by States therein.Through a more detailed comparative analysis of the two conventions in their entirety and in their content parts,the relevant defenses are studied and interpreted.Through the comparison,we observe and analyze how the two conventions have been internationally harmonized with respect to the differences in domestic legislation of each country,including the defenses.The article examines the system of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments in China.It focuses on the new "Minutes of the National Symposium on Foreign Commercial and Maritime Judgments of the Supreme People’s Court"(hereinafter referred to as the "Foreign-related Minutes")issued by the Supreme People’s Court at the end of 2021.It compares and interprets China’s domestic rules and judicial practices before and after the introduction of the Foreign-related Minutes and points out the contributions and breakthroughs of the Foreign-related Minutes.This article analyzes the problems that still exist in the system of recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments in China from three levels,namely,the content of the Foreign Affairs Rules,the legislation as a whole and the international mechanism,pointing out the provisions that endorse legal reciprocity,the finality element and the fraud exception,and analyzing the problems that still exist in indirect jurisdiction,due process,conflicting judgments and public policy;In terms of legislation as a whole,the analysis mainly focuses on the inadequacy of the name "judicial assistance" and the lack of distinction between mandatory and arbitrary conditions for review;at the level of international mechanisms,it is pointed out that China’s bilateral and multilateral mechanisms have not yet taken shape,and suggestions for improvement are given at three levels:content of rules,overall rules and international mechanisms.