CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Yaxing Zhang, Bing San, Yi Cao and Jiahui Zhu, Han Kun Law Offices
2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments In any of the following circumstances, the court shall order a stay of enforcement of judgments: • where a third party files a written objection to the subject matter of enforcement (eg a third party claims co-ownership rights/mortgage rights/lease - hold rights over the subject matter), and the court accepts and reviews it according to law; • where a party applies for retrial of the judgment, and the court orders a retrial after review; or • where one party applies for the enforcement of an arbitral award, and the other party applies to the court for setting aside of such award and provides the court with security for enforcement, and the court sets aside the application according to law. In any of the following circumstances, the court may order a stay of enforcement of judgments: • where the debtor against whom enforcement is sought files an objection or applies for reconsidera - tion regarding an enforcement act; or • where a third party initiates a third-party revocation action against the judgment, provided that security for enforcement is furnished to the court. 2.6 Unenforceable Domestic Judgments In any of the following circumstances, the judgments cannot be enforced: • if the creditor files an application for enforcement with the court after expiry of the two-year statu - tory time limit for enforcement, and the debtor subject to enforcement raises an objection to such time limit, the court shall dismiss the enforcement application; or • if the judgment result of the legally effective docu - ment is ambiguous and vague, rendering it impos - sible to enforce. 2.7 Register of Domestic Judgments As a general principle, civil judgments and rulings (excluding civil mediation statements) shall be pub - lished on the China Judgments Online website.
Summons for enquiry The enforcement judge may summon the debtor or their legal representative, principal responsible per - son, de facto controller, or directly responsible per - son to the court for investigation and enquiry, in order to clarify the debtor’s property status and the ability to perform obligations. If the summoned person or representative of the company fails to appear without justifiable reason after lawful summons, the court may subject them to detention for interrogation. Search warrant Where there is evidence or indication to believe that the debtor is concealing assets, accounting books or other materials and refuses to surrender them, the court may issue a search warrant and conduct a search of the debtor’s domicile or locations where the assets may be concealed. Methods for Applicants to Investigate a Defendant’s Assets in Enforcement Proceedings Applying for a Lawyer Investigation Order The creditor’s lawyer may submit a written application to the court to issue a Lawyer Investigation Order to authorise the lawyer to investigate specific asset infor - mation of the debtor within a defined timeframe and scope. The common investigation scope includes: • detailed information on real estate, vehicles or industrial and commercial records under the debtor’s name; • transaction history of the debtor’s bank accounts; • property information under the name of the debtor’s spouse (especially when involving com - munity property or suspected asset transfers to the spouse); and • the debtor’s investments, income, etc. Applying for a Reward Notice The creditor may submit a written application to the court to make a public announcement to offer a reward for information leading to the discovery of the debtor’s assets’ clues or whereabouts. Informers whose provided clues are verified as true and lead to actual recovery will receive the reward according to the standard or proportion promised in the announce - ment, and such cost is typically borne by the creditor.
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