Chapter XVI Procedure for Trial Supervision

Article 177 If the president of a people's court at any level finds definite error in a legally effective judgment or written order of his court and deems it necessary to have the case retried, he shall refer it to the judicial committee for discussion and decision.

If the Supreme People's Court finds definite error in a legally effective judgment or written order of a local people's court at any level, or if a people's court at a higher level finds some definite error in a legally effective judgment or written order of a people's court at a lower level, it shall respectively have the power to bring the case up for trial by itself or direct the people's court at a lower level to conduct a retrial.

Article 178 If a party to an action considers that there is error in a legally effective judgment or written order, he may apply to the people’s court at the next higher level for a retrial; however, execution of the judgment or written order shall not be suspended.

Article 179 If an application made by a party meets any one of the following conditions, the people’s court shall retry the case:

(1) There is new evidence which is sufficient to set aside the original judgment or written order;

(2) There is a lack of evidence for establishing the basic facts ascertained in the original judgment or written order;

(3) The main evidence for the facts ascertained in the original judgment or written order is falsified;

(4) The main evidence for the facts ascertained in the original judgment or written order is not cross-examined;

(5) The party to a lawsuit, due to objective cause, cannot collect the evidence necessary for adjudicating the case and has applied, in writing, to the people’s court for investigation and collection of such evidence, but the people’s court fails to investigate and collect the evidence;

(6) There is definite error in the application of law to the making of the original judgment or written order;

(7) In violation of the provisions of law, jurisdiction is erroneously exercised;

(8) Formation of the trial organization is unlawful or the adjudicator that should withdraw has not done so;

(9) The person incapable of judicial act is not represented by a statutory agent, or the party that should participate in the litigation fails to do so for reasons not attributable to himself or his legal representative;

(10) The party’s right to debate is deprived of in violation of the provisions of law;

(11) The default judgment in the absence of the party is made where a summons is not served on the party;

(12) Some claims are omitted or excessive claims are confirmed in the original judgment or written order; or

(13) The legal document on the basis of which the original judgment or written order is abrogated or revised.

The people’s court shall retry a case, where violation of the statutory procedure may prevent correct judgment or written order from being made or the adjudicator, in the course of trial, commits embezzlement, accepts bribes, engages in malpractices for personal gain, or perverts the law in making the judgment or written order.

Article 180 Where a party applies for a retrial, he shall submit a written application for retrial and other materials. The people’s court shall, within five days after receiving the application, serve the duplicate of the written application for retrial on the other party. The other party shall submit written opinions within 15 days after receiving the said duplicate; and failure on the part of the other party to submit the written opinions shall not prevent the review by the people’s court. The people’s court may require the applicant and the other party to supplement the relevant materials and inquire about relevant matters.

Article 181 The people’s court shall complete the review of the written application for retrial within three months after receiving it, and shall rule to retry the case if the application meets the conditions specified in one of the subparagraphs of Article 179 of this Law; otherwise, it shall rule to reject the application. Under special circumstances where the period of time for review needs to be extended, the matter shall be subject to approval by the president of the court.

If a case is ruled to be retried upon application by a party to the action, the case shall be retried by an intermediate people’s court or a people’s court at a higher level. If a case is ruled to be retried by the Supreme People’s Court or a higher people’s court, the case shall be retried by the court that rules in favor of retrial or it may be handed over to any other people’s court or the people’s court that originally tried the case for retrial.

Article 182 With respect to a legally effective conciliation statement, if evidence furnished by a party proves that the conciliation violates the principle of voluntariness or that the content of the conciliation agreement violates the law, the party may apply for a retrial. If the foregoing proves true after its examination, the people's court shall retry the case.

Article 183 With respect to a legally effective judgment on dissolution of marriage, neither of the two parties shall apply for retrial.

Article 184 A party that intends to apply for a retrial shall submit an application within two years after the judgment or written order becomes legally effective; if after the lapse of two years, the legal document on the basis of which the original judgment or written order was made is abolished or revised or in the course of trial, the adjudicator is found to have committed embezzlement, accepted bribes, engaged in malpractices for personal gain, or perverted the law in making the judgment or written order, the party shall submit the application within three months after he comes to know or should know the fact. Article 185 When a decision is made to retry a case in accordance with the procedure for trial supervision, the execution of the original judgment shall be suspended by a written order which shall be signed by the president of the court with the seal of the people's court affixed to it.