When you initiate a lawsuit, you want to know and control the length of the court proceeding. Generally, a country’s procedure laws, civil, criminal or administrative, will provide for a time limit within which the relevant litigious proceeding shall be completed, i.e. a judgment therein shall be delivered.
Under China Civil Procedure Law, a domestic case is generally tried and completed within six (6) months for the trial of first instance starting from the date of successful filing of the case with the court, and within three (3) months for the trial of second instance (appellate court). However, for a foreign-related case, the Civil Procedure Law simply provides that such cases are not subject to such time limits as applicable to domestic cases without further prescribing how long such proceedings in respect of such foreign-related cases should be. In practice, such provisions are interpreted as that such lawsuits can be an open-ended proceedings.
Indeed. Very frequently, I am approached by international clients complaining that they get trapped in China courts due to prolonged legal proceedings with no idea when it comes to an end. And there are cases in which I represent foreign parties that have lasted much longer than six (6) months even though the case appeared not difficult. This has led to grievances on the part of foreign parties that often find that institution of a lawsuit in China has added salt to their own injuries.
Therefore, due to this disadvantage, coupled with other drawbacks in China litigation systems, in most international business contracts, we advise our clients to choose arbitration for dispute resolution in lieu of litigation in courts.
To be sure, it is not that every foreign-related case has been protracted indefinitely. Courts in those big metropolitan cities in China, such as Shanghai, Beijing, may prove to be quite efficient in some cases.