Civil cases involving novel coronavirus pneumonia in accordance with the law Guiding opinions on some issues (1)

supreme people ‘s court Civil cases involving novel coronavirus pneumonia in accordance with the law Guiding opinions on some issues (1)
Novel coronavirus pneumonia novel coronavirus pneumonia cases are put into practice in order to implement the spirit of the Central Committee’s work on coordinating the work of the new crown pneumonia epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and properly handle the new civil cases involving the new crown pneumonia epidemic, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people, maintain social and economic order, and safeguard social fairness and justice. See you.
1、 Give full play to the role of judicial service guarantee. The people’s courts at all levels should fully understand the major impact of the epidemic on the economy and society, base on the overall situation of promoting the epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, give full play to the role of justice in regulating social relations, actively participate in the governance of litigation sources, insist on the non litigation dispute resolution mechanism in the front, insist on the priority of mediation, and actively guide the parties to negotiate and settle, share risks and protect the interests of the people We should tide over the difficulties together and solve the contradictions in the bud and at the grassroots level. In the process of the trial of civil cases involving epidemic situation, according to the actual situation of the case, we should accurately apply the law, balance the interests of all parties, protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, serve the economic and social development, and realize the unity of legal effect and social effect.
2、 The rule of force majeure shall be applied accurately according to law. When trying civil cases involving epidemic situation, the people’s court should accurately apply the specific provisions of force majeure and strictly grasp the applicable conditions. For civil disputes directly affected by the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures, if they meet the legal requirements of force majeure, Article 180 of the general provisions of the civil law of the people’s Republic of China, Article 117 and Article 118 of the contract law of the people’s Republic of China shall be applied to handle them properly; if other laws and administrative regulations have other provisions, such provisions shall prevail. If the parties claim partial or total exemption from liability due to force majeure, they shall bear the burden of proof for the fact that part or all of the civil obligations cannot be fulfilled due to force majeure.
3、 Properly handle contract disputes according to law. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, when applying the law, the contract dispute cases directly affected by the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures shall comprehensively consider the impact of the epidemic situation on different regions, different industries and different cases, accurately grasp the causal relationship and causal force between the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures and the failure to perform the contract, and shall be handled according to the following rules:
（1） If the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures directly result in the failure to perform the contract, the provisions of force majeure shall be applied according to law, and the responsibility shall be partially or completely exempted according to the degree of influence of the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures. If a party is liable for the failure to perform the contract or the expansion of the loss, it shall bear the corresponding responsibility according to law. If a party claims to fulfill its obligation of timely notification due to the epidemic situation or its prevention and control measures, it shall bear the corresponding burden of proof.
（2） If the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures only lead to difficulties in the performance of the contract, the parties may renegotiate; if they can continue to perform the contract, the people’s court shall earnestly strengthen the mediation work and actively guide the parties to continue to perform the contract. The people’s court shall not support a party’s request for rescission of the contract on the ground that it is difficult to perform the contract. If it is obviously unfair for a party to continue to perform the contract, and the party requests to change the time limit, method of performance, amount of price, etc., the people’s court shall decide whether to support it or not in light of the actual situation of the case. The people’s court shall not support the claim of partial or total exemption from liability after the contract is changed according to law. If the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved due to the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures, and the parties request to terminate the contract, the people’s court shall support it.
（3） If the party concerned is subsidized or subsidized by government departments, tax relief or other people’s financial aid or debt relief due to the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures, the people’s court can serve as a reference factor to determine whether the contract can continue to be performed or not.
4、 Handle labor dispute cases according to law. Strengthen the coordination with the government and relevant departments, and support the employing units to adopt flexible working methods according to laws and regulations during the period of epidemic prevention and control. Article 26 of the labor law of the people’s Republic of China and Article 40 of the labor contract law of the people’s Republic of China should be applied accurately when trying labor dispute cases involving epidemic situation. Novel coronavirus pneumonia is diagnosed only by novel coronavirus pneumonia, suspected new crown pneumonia, asymptomatic infection, or segregated by law or laborers from the relatively serious epidemic situation. The people’s court shall not support it. For the handling of relevant labor dispute cases, we should correctly understand and refer to the policy documents formulated by the relevant administrative departments of the State Council and the provincial people’s government for properly handling labor relations during the period of epidemic prevention and control.
5、 Punitive damages shall be applied according to law. When dealing in masks, goggles, protective clothing, disinfectants and other epidemic prevention articles, as well as food and drugs, the business operators have the following problems: Article 55 of the law of the people’s Republic of China on the protection of consumers’ rights and interests, paragraph 2 of article 148 of the food safety law of the people’s Republic of China, paragraph 3 of article 144 of the drug administration law of the people’s Republic of China and the Supreme People’s court The people’s court shall support the application of punitive damages in accordance with Article 15 of the provisions on the application of laws in the trial of food and drug disputes.
6、 The limitation of action shall be suspended according to law. In the last six months of the limitation period, if the right of claim cannot be exercised due to the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures, and the obligee claims to suspend the limitation of action in accordance with the first paragraph of article 194 of the general provisions of the civil law of the people’s Republic of China, the people’s court shall support it.
7、 The period of litigation shall be postponed according to law. If a party applies for extension of the time limit in accordance with Article 83 of the Civil Procedure Law of the people’s Republic of China due to the delay of the legal provisions or the time limit specified by the people’s court due to the epidemic situation or the measures for prevention and control of the epidemic situation, the people’s court shall, in light of the epidemic situation and the evidence provided by the party, comprehensively consider whether to permit or not, and protect the litigation rights of the party in accordance with the law. Novel coronavirus pneumonia, suspected novel coronavirus pneumonia, asymptomatic infection and close contacts are to be applied to the people’s court when the time limit for litigation is expired according to the law.
8、 We should strengthen judicial assistance. If a party who is really in financial difficulties due to the epidemic situation applies for exemption, reduction or postponement of the payment of litigation expenses, the people’s court shall review it in accordance with the law and make corresponding decisions in a timely manner. For the participants who really need judicial assistance, they should take timely relief measures according to their application.
9、 Flexible protection measures. For enterprises in trouble affected by the epidemic, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses, flexible property preservation measures or property preservation guarantee methods can be adopted to effectively reduce the burden of enterprises and help enterprises resume work and production.
10、 We should ensure the unity of law application. The people’s courts at all levels should strengthen the guidance and supervision of the trial work of civil cases involving epidemic diseases, give full play to the role of professional judges’ meetings and judicial committees, and timely submit the application of law in major, difficult and complex cases to the judicial committees for discussion and decision. The people’s court at a higher level should strengthen the guidance to the people’s court at a lower level by issuing typical cases to ensure the unity of judgment standards.