An information sharing platform will be jointly launched to facilitate enforcement of judgment, according to a statement recently issued by China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

The statement specified details of the coordination of information about cases, people subject to and avoiding enforcement, and court orders. The MPS will assist people’s courts with information about defaulters and defendants in custody, including their identity information, entry and exit certificates, and vehicles. The MPS will prevent judgment defaulters from exiting the country, look for and seal up vehicles involving court orders, and help the courts to find judgment debtors whose whereabouts are unknown.

According to the statement, the network service has been well prepared and will begin responding to online inquiries regarding identification, exit and entry certificates and judgment debtors’ vehicles by the end of March.

In 2010, the SPC issued a judicial interpretation restricting high consumption by judgment debtors, which disallowed certain specified behaviors such as purchasing air tickets, railway tickets that include soft sleepers, or first-class tickets on high-speed trains; it also disallowed consuming services at luxury hotels.

At that time, the courts only had the debtors’ identity card information. Thus, they could avoid the restriction on purchasing air tickets by using passports or other identity documents.

Thanks to the coordination by which the courts will have all the information on the defaulters’ identity cards and exit and entry certificates, that loophole will be eliminated. In addition, with the help of the vehicle inquiry service, judges will not have to track information at the vehicle management department and traffic authorities.

The judgment debtors’ consumption in high-level hotels will be tracked by an online platform, which will be put into use by the end of April.

The joint statement and inquiry platform will be a breakthrough in more harshly restricting debtors who avoid court orders, and in helping judgment enforcement.