Chapter VI Evidence

Article 63 Evidence shall be classified as follows:

(1) documentary evidence;

(2) material evidence;

(3) audio-visual material;

(4) testimony of witnesses;

(5) statements of the parties;

(6) expert conclusions; and

(7) records of inspection.

The above-mentioned evidence must be verified before it can be taken as a basis for ascertaining a fact.

Article 64 It is the duty of a party to an action to provide evidence in support of his allegations.

If, for objective reasons, a party and his agent ad litem are unable to collect the evidence by themselves or if the people's court considers the evidence necessary for the trial of the case, the people's court shall investigate and collect it.

The people's court shall, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the law, examine and verify evidence comprehensively and objectively.

Article 65 The people's court shall have the right to make investigation and collect evidence from the relevant units or individuals; such units or individuals may not refuse to provide information and evidence.

The people's court shall verify the authenticity, examine and determine the validity of the certifying documents provided by the relevant units or individuals.

Article 66 Evidence shall be presented in court and cross-examined by the parties concerned. But evidence that involves State secrets, trade secrets and personal privacy shall be kept confidential. If it needs to be presented in court, such evidence shall not be presented in an open court session.

Article 67 The people's court shall take the acts, facts and documents legalized by notarization according to legal procedures as the basis for ascertaining facts, unless there is evidence to the contrary sufficient to invalidate the notarization.

Article 68 Any document submitted as evidence must be the original. Material evidence must also be original. If it is truly difficult to present the original document or thing, then reproductions, photographs, duplicates or extracts of the original may be submitted.

If a document in a foreign language is submitted as evidence, a Chinese translation must be appended.

Article 69 The people's court shall verify audio-visual materials and determine after their examination in the light of other evidence in the case whether they can be taken as a basis for ascertaining the facts.

Article 70 All units and individuals who have knowledge of a case shall be under the obligation of giving testimony in court. Responsible heads of the relevant units shall support the witnesses to give testimony. When it is truly difficult for a witness to appear in court, he may, with the consent of the people's court, submit a written testimony.

Any person who is incapable of expressing his will properly shall not give testimony.

Article 71 The people's court shall examine the statements of the parties concerned in the light of other evidence in the case to determine whether the statements can be taken as a basis for ascertaining the facts.

The refusal of a party to make statements shall not prevent the people's court from ascertaining the facts of a case on the basis of other evidence.

Article 72 When the people's court deems it necessary to make an expert evaluation of a problem of a technical nature, it shall refer the problem to a department authorized by the law for the evaluation. In the absence of such a department, the people's court shall appoint one to make the expert evaluation.

The authorized department and the experts designated by the department shall have the right to consult the case materials necessary for the evaluation and question the parties and witnesses when circumstances so require.

The authorized department and the experts it designated shall present a written conclusion of the evaluation duly sealed or signed by both. If the evaluation is made by an expert alone, the unit to which the expert belongs shall certify his status by affixing its seal to the expert's conclusion.

Article 73 When inspecting material evidence or a site, the inspector must produce his credentials issued by a people's court. He shall request the local grass-roots organization or the unit to which the party to the action belongs to send persons to participate in the inspection. The party concerned or an adult member of his family shall be present; their refusal to appear on the scene, however, shall not hinder the inspection.

Upon notification by the people's court, the relevant units and individuals shall be under the obligation of preserving the site and assisting the inspection.

The inspector shall make a written record of the circumstances and results of the inspection, which shall be duly signed or sealed by the inspector, the party concerned and the participants requested to be present.

Article 74 Under circumstances where there is a likelihood that evidence may be destroyed or lost, or difficult to obtain later, the participants in the proceedings may apply to the people's court for preservation of the evidence. The people's court may also on its own initiative take measures to preserve such evidence.

Chapter VII Time Periods and Service

Section 1 Time Periods

Article 75 Time periods shall include those prescribed by the law and those designated by a people's court.

Time periods shall be calculated by the hour, the day, the month and the year. The hour and day from which a time period begins shall not be counted as within the time period.

If the expiration date of a time period falls on a holiday, then the day immediately following the holiday shall be regarded as the expiration date.

A time period shall not include travelling time. A litigation document that is mailed before the deadline shall not be regarded as overdue.

Article 76 In case of failure on the part of a party to an action to meet a deadline due to force majeure or for other justified reasons, the party concerned may apply for an extension of the time limit within 10 days after the obstacle is removed. The extension applied for shall be subject to approval by a people's court.

Section 2 Service

Article 77 A receipt shall be required for every litigation document that is served and it shall bear the date of receipt noted by the signature or seal of the person on whom the document was served.

The date noted on the receipt by the person on whom the document was served shall be regarded as the date of service of the document.

Article 78 Litigation documents shall be sent or delivered directly to the person on whom they are to be served. If that person is a citizen, the documents shall, in case of his absence, be receipted by an adult member of his family living with him. If the person on whom they are to be served is a legal person or any other organization, the documents shall be receipted by the legal representatives of the legal person or the principal heads of the other organization or anyone of the legal person or the other organization responsible for receiving such documents; if the person on whom they are to be served has an agent ad litem, the documents may be receipted by the agent ad litem; if the person on whom they are to be served has designated a person to receive litigation documents on his behalf and has informed the people's court of it, the documents may be receipted by the person designated.

The date put down in the receipt and signed by the adult family member living with the person or whom the litigation documents are to be served, or by the person responsible for receiving documents of a legal person or any other organization, or by the agent ad litem , or the person designated to receive documents shall be deemed the date of service of the documents.

Article 79 If the person on whom the litigation documents are to be served or the adult family member living with him refuses to receive the documents, the person serving the documents shall ask representatives from the relevant grass-roots organization or the unit to which the person on whom the documents are to be served belongs to appear on the scene, explain the situation to them, and record on the receipt the reasons of the refusal and the date of it. After the person serving the documents and the witnesses have affixed their signatures or seals to the receipt, the documents shall be left at the place where the person on whom they are to be served lives and the service shall be deemed completed.

Article 80 If direct service proves to be difficult, service of litigation documents may be entrusted to another people's court, or done by mail. If the documents are served by mail, the date stated on the receipt for postal delivery shall be deemed the date of service of the documents.

Article 81 If the person on whom the litigation documents are to be served is a serviceman, the documents shall be forwarded to him through the political organ of the unit at or above the regimental level in the force to which he belongs.

Article 82 If the person on whom the litigation documents are to be served is in imprisonment, the documents shall be forwarded to him through the prison authorities or the unit of reform through labour where the person is serving his term.

If the person on whom the litigation documents are to be served is undergoing rehabilitation through labour, the documents shall be forwarded to him through the unit of his rehabilitation through labour.

Article 83 The organization or unit that receives the litigation documents to be forwarded must immediately deliver them to and have them receipted by the person on whom they are to be served. The date stated on the receipt shall be deemed the date of service of the documents.

Article 84 If the whereabouts of the person on whom the litigation documents are to be served is unknown, or if the documents cannot be served by the other methods specified in this Section, the documents shall be served by public announcement. Sixty days after the public announcement is made, the documents shall be deemed to have been served.

The reasons for service by public announcement and the process gone through shall be recorded in the case files.

Chapter VIII Conciliation

Article 85 In the trial of civil cases, the people's court shall distinguish between right and wrong on the basis of the facts being clear and conduct conciliation between the parties on a voluntary basis.

Article 86 When a people's court conducts conciliation, a single judge or a collegial panel may preside over it. Conciliation shall be conducted on the spot as much as possible.

When a people's court conducts conciliation, it may employ simplified methods to notify the parties concerned and the witnesses to appear in court.

Article 87 When a people's court conducts conciliation, it may invite the units or individuals concerned to come to its assistance. The units or individuals invited shall assist the people's court in conciliation.

Article 88 A settlement agreement reached between the two parties through conciliation must be of their own free will and without compulsion. The content of the settlement agreement shall not contravene the law.

Article 89 When a settlement agreement through conciliation is reached, the people's court shall draw up a conciliation statement. The conciliation statement shall clearly set forth the claims, the facts of the case, and the result of the conciliation.

The conciliation statement shall be signed by the judge and the court clerk, sealed by the people's court, and served on both parties.

Once it is receipted by the two parties concerned, the conciliation statement shall become legally effective.

Article 90 The people's court need not draw up a conciliation statement for the following cases when a settlement agreement is reached through conciliation:

(1) divorce cases in which both parties have become reconciled after conciliation;

(2) cases in which adoptive relationship has been maintained through conciliation;

(3) cases in which the claims can be immediately satisfied; and

(4) other cases that do not require a conciliation statement.

Any settlement agreement that needs no conciliation statement shall be entered into the written record and shall become legally effective after being signed or sealed by both parties concerned, by the judge and by the court clerk.

Article 91 If no agreement is reached through conciliation or if either party backs out of the settlement agreement before the conciliation statement is served, the people's court shall render a judgment without delay.