Top court interprets monopoly civil lawsuits
Source: Xinhua |
May 9, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S Supreme People's Court published a judicial interpretation yesterday on civil lawsuits filed against monopolistic acts in a bid to smooth such claims and promote fair competition.
According to the interpretation, an individual, company or organization may bring a civil anti-trust lawsuit directly to the court without having to obtain a government determination on a certain monopolistic act, the court spokesman Sun Jungong said at a press conference.
The new rules have also reduced the plaintiff's burden of proof in such cases.
The plaintiff need not prove the existence of a monopoly in typical monopoly cases with evident and serious threats to the market, such as the acts of illegal price or market segmentation collusion, said Kong Xiangjun, chief judge with the third tribunal for civil trials of the court.
Experts' testimonies and opinions will be accepted by the courts as evidence, according to Sun.
He said the difficulty of collecting and providing sufficient evidence was previously a major obstacle for the plaintiff to secure a favorable court ruling in anti-trust actions.
China's anti-trust law became effective in August 2008.
As of the end of last year, Chinese courts nationwide have received 61 cases of civil claims on monopoly disputes and the trails of 53 cases have concluded, Sun said.
These disputes covered various industries including transport, medical care, food, household appliances and information network, and the largest damage claimed by a plaintiff was 200 million yuan (US$31.8 million), Sun said.
According to the interpretation, an individual, company or organization may bring a civil anti-trust lawsuit directly to the court without having to obtain a government determination on a certain monopolistic act, the court spokesman Sun Jungong said at a press conference.
The new rules have also reduced the plaintiff's burden of proof in such cases.
The plaintiff need not prove the existence of a monopoly in typical monopoly cases with evident and serious threats to the market, such as the acts of illegal price or market segmentation collusion, said Kong Xiangjun, chief judge with the third tribunal for civil trials of the court.
Experts' testimonies and opinions will be accepted by the courts as evidence, according to Sun.
He said the difficulty of collecting and providing sufficient evidence was previously a major obstacle for the plaintiff to secure a favorable court ruling in anti-trust actions.
China's anti-trust law became effective in August 2008.
As of the end of last year, Chinese courts nationwide have received 61 cases of civil claims on monopoly disputes and the trails of 53 cases have concluded, Sun said.
These disputes covered various industries including transport, medical care, food, household appliances and information network, and the largest damage claimed by a plaintiff was 200 million yuan (US$31.8 million), Sun said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
