The Adjudication Committee of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) convened a meeting on Dec 14 to discuss the adjudication rules for cases involving objections to court enforcement orders. 

The meeting was presided over by Zhang Jun, president of the SPC. He emphasized the need to implement the guiding principles of the recently-concluded Central Economic Work Conference and contribute to boosting consumption and stabilizing the market.

Discrepancies between the registered property rights holder and the actual rights holder have led to instances where the latter believes that the court's enforcement was erroneous and files an objection, giving rise to such cases in practice. 

With the increase in disputes involving real estate transactions over the years, the number of enforcement objection cases has also gone up, from 26,000 cases in 2017 to 80,000 in 2023, according to the SPC. Such cases usually involve lawful rights of multiple parties and thus pose complex conflicts, which are hard to resolve. 

Through in-depth research and analysis, and leveraging big data in the judicial field, the SPC has studied issues in adjudication of such cases including inconsistent judicial understanding and inadequate rules.

It has systematically reviewed relevant judicial experiences, focusing on addressing contentious issues in cases of objection to enforcement, such as disputes related to stalled real estate projects, notice registration, property leasing, and fraudulent litigation. By actively exercising its judicial functions, the SPC aims to serve and safeguard the high-quality development of the economy and society.

During the meeting, participants drew on guiding principles of the Central Economic Work Conference, closely focusing their discussions on practical work. They raised questions, proposed solutions, and eventually reached consensus on potential adjudication strategies for cases involving enforcement objections.

It was noted at the meeting that efforts should be made to safeguard people's livelihoods, regulate and guide the healthy development of sectors such as real estate, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of property buyers, priority holders of construction project payment, mortgagees, other creditors, and developers. 

Through equal protection and fair administration of justice, all types of economic entities should have equal access to the use of factors of production, fair participation in market competition, and equal legal protection, thereby stabilizing social expectations, promoting commodity transactions, and stimulating market vitality, participants said. 

They also called for sustained efforts to standardize enforcement work and intensify enforcement efforts, particularly in cases involving people’s livelihoods, to promptly fulfill the legitimate rights and interests of parties who have won their cases, ensuring social stability and providing robust judicial services and guarantees to achieve the goals set for the economic work in the next year and propel high-quality economic and social development.

It is important to strengthen judicial supervision and guidance, unify judgment standards, and enhance the quality and efficiency of judicial adjudication, especially in cases where significant legal application discrepancies exist regarding the adjudication of cases of objections to enforcement, they added.