CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Hongyu Liu, Shuaifeng Wang, Dongda Wei and Chen Rong, King & Capital Law Firm
2.8 Media Access and Transparency in Financial Proceedings In principle, reporting is allowed, but it must comply with the People’s Court Courtroom Rules. If privacy is involved, the court can restrict reporting. The scope is limited to open court sessions, but family cases are generally not heard in public. Parties can request anonymisation. The process involves applying to the court for a non-public hear ‑ ing or anonymised handling; the court decides based on privacy protection. In practice, names are often redacted in family cases. 2.9 ADR in Financial Matters Outside of formal court litigation, the primary alterna ‑ tive dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms available to parties for resolving divorce property disputes mainly include negotiation, mediation and arbitration. These mechanisms each have distinct characteristics and provide parties with more diverse and flexible resolu ‑ tion pathways. Negotiation This is the most basic and common form of out-of- court resolution. The spouses, either independently or with the assistance of lawyers, engage in amica ‑ ble discussions on issues such as property division and child support, ultimately reaching a “divorce agreement”. The advantages of negotiation lie in its high degree of autonomy, low cost, high efficiency and conduciveness to ending the marital relation ‑ ship peacefully. It is particularly suitable for situations where the parties have minimal disagreements and are both willing to handle the matter rationally. This agree ‑ ment serves as the core document for processing the divorce registration. Mediation When direct negotiation between the parties is dif ‑ ficult, mediation becomes an extremely important method. Mediation refers to a process where a neu ‑ tral third party (the mediator) facilitates discussions to help the parties voluntarily reach an agreement. In Chinese practice, mediation takes various forms. • People’s mediation: Conducted by People’s Mediation Committees (typically established
within communities, sub-district offices or justice bureaus) under the guidance of judicial administra ‑ tive departments. This is a free public service, and agreements reached through mediation are legally binding. • Court-annexed mediation: This is currently a “docket mediation” mechanism strongly promoted by the judicial system. Before filing a lawsuit, or after case acceptance, the court may guide the parties to refer their case to specially invited mediation organisations or the court’s internal mediators for pre-litigation mediation. For example, some courts collaborate with women’s federations and lawyers’ associations to establish specialised family mediation rooms. If mediation is successful, the parties can apply for the court to issue a “civil mediation statement”, which possesses enforce ‑ ability. If mediation fails, the case is promptly trans ‑ ferred into the litigation process. • Administrative mediation: In certain circumstances, parties might also seek advisory and mediation services provided by civil affairs departments dur ‑ ing the divorce registration process. Currently, Chinese law does not universally mandate the mandatory prior use of ADR (particularly media ‑ tion) for divorce property disputes. However, judicial policy and practice demonstrate a strong tendency to incentivise and guide parties towards it. The basic principle regarding the use of ADR is vol ‑ untariness. The court cannot force parties to accept a mediation outcome. Potential consequences of non-compliance While there are no direct administrative penalties (such as fines) for refusing to participate in mediation, there can be potential adverse procedural implications. • Agreement without judicial confirmation (eg, a pri ‑ vately reached divorce agreement): Its legal nature is that of a binding contract. According to the Civil Code, this agreement is legally binding on both parties. If one party later reneges and fails to per ‑ form the agreement (eg, refuses to pay the agreed property settlement), the other party cannot directly apply to the court for enforcement. They must first file a lawsuit with the court, requesting a judgment
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