Evidence

Abstract

AbstractEvidence is a topic we would like to spend a large number of pages to introduce. China’s civil litigation evidence system is featured by highly distinctive characteristics from basic concepts to specific rules. For example, the Chinese law emphasizes the principle of “the burden of proof lies with the party asserting a proposition”; the parties should collect evidence on their own as far as possible, rather than relying on the other party to provide evidence. For another example, compared with the witness testimony, the Chinese law attaches more importance to the documentary evidence. On the basis of these characteristics, we strive to comb through and introduce China’s civil litigation evidence system as comprehensively as possible. First, we will introduce some basic systems, including standard of proof, burden of proof, time limit for presenting evidence, and self-admission system. Second, we will introduce some specific types of evidence that readers may be interested in, including witness testimony, secret recording, and evidence from the Internet and social media. Under the Chinese law, the admissibility, probative force, evidence collection and application methods of such evidence all have their own distinctive characteristics, and therefore will be introduced in more detail. Third, we will introduce, in addition to presentation of evidence by the parties, other evidence systems, including technical examination officer, expert opinions/appraisal and examination, evidence investigation and collection by the court, evidence preservation by the court, and evidence presentation order. The parties may, when encountering difficulties in presenting evidence on their own, consider using these systems to obtain evidence or shift the burden of proof. At last, how to keep evidence confidential in litigation is also a highly practical question frequently asked by our peers. We would like to share our thoughts on this issue in the last section of this chapter.