The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has amended the “Rules on Cause of Action in Civil Cases” for the first time since the Rules were originally introduced on 4 February 2008. In this amendment, “tortious act” has been uplifted to become an independent first level cause of action, which is now on the same level as personality rights, property rights, intellectual property rights and commercial rights in civil cases. In the light of the Tortious Liability Law, the sub-categories of causes of action in disputes over tortious acts have been expanded such that “product liability”, “highly dangerous act” and 13 other new causes of action have been inserted to become third level causes of action. In addition, 28 new causes of action have been inserted to become the fourth level of causes of action. The SPC has also issued the “Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on the Promulgation of the Amended ‘Rules on Cause of Action in Civil Cases’” which specifies the application of the amended Rules.
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