Service of Court Documents

Abstract

AbstractThe court documents will be served after the determination of adjudicatory personnel. In China, the service of court documents is effected by the court, with necessary assistance from the party if needed. Chinese courts may serve court documents by personal service, service by mail and the like. In practice, service by mail is the preferred method of service among most Chinese courts. However, to improve the efficiency of service, Chinese courts are now actively trying electronic service. If court documents cannot be served by the foregoing means, the court may also resort to service by publication. Due to fast and widespread population migration and intentional evasion of the service of court documents, Chinese courts are facing “difficulty in effecting service of court documents” to a certain extent, which in turn upsets the litigation efficiency. To solve this problem, Chinese courts have taken various measures, which significantly improve the efficiency of service. If the defendant is a foreign party without domicile in China, the Chinese court may serve court documents on its designated personnel or organization in China. In the absence of such personnel or organization, Chinese courts usually serve court documents in accordance with international treaties such as the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (hereinafter referred to as the “Hague Service Convention”). To the extent permitted by the internal law of the state of the person to be served, Chinese courts may also serve court documents by mail and electronic means. Anyway, service by publication still remains the last resort for service of court documents of Chinese courts. As a contracting state to the Hague Service Convention, China is obligated to assist foreign courts in service of court documents in accordance therewith. For this purpose, Chinese courts have also stipulated a clear process for assisting foreign courts in service of court documents. If there are bilateral treaties between China and other contracting states to the Hague Service Convention, there will be some flexibilities in the application of either the Hague Service Convention or bilateral treaties.