Tips on legal risks of enterprises during epidemic prevention and control -- Risk of litigation procedure
The COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai is urgent, large-scale and widespread, and as the prevention and control measures are upgraded and continued, the risk of internal or external conflicts and disputes among enterprises is also accumulating. In order to help enterprises identify and prevent legal risks related to the epidemic, Hillhouse Law Firm will successively push Corporate Legal Risks Tips during Epidemic Prevention and Control to enterprises for reference in business decision-making and promote the healthy and orderly development of enterprises. This article focuses on the legal risks of enterprise litigation procedures during epidemic prevention and control.
一、During the epidemic prevention and control period, enterprises should actively apply for the extension of the time limit of various litigation procedures.
In principle, the period during which an enterprise is affected by the epidemic should not be counted as part of the prosecution period. If an enterprise claims the existence of the above deduction period and applies for extension of the period when filing a lawsuit with the court, it should provide evidence of the COVID-19 diagnosis, asymptomatic infection, or the impact of the epidemic due to epidemic prevention and control measures. The people's court shall, in light of the epidemic situation and the evidence provided by the parties, comprehensively consider whether to grant permission and protect the litigation rights of the parties according to law. In addition, during the period of epidemic prevention and control, if the court has served a notice of proof to the enterprise, the enterprise may propose that it is difficult to provide evidence within the period of proof due to the impact of the epidemic, and the court may extend the period of proof at its discretion.
If an enterprise delays the time limit for appeal or application for retrial due to the epidemic situation or epidemic prevention and control measures, it may, in accordance with Article 86 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, apply for an extension of the time limit within 10 days after the obstacle is removed. If the corporate litigant is confirmed to be a COVID-19 patient, asymptomatic infected person or relevant close contact, and the litigation period of the legal isolation period has expired, the people's court shall allow the application.
If an enterprise cannot file an application to the court for revoking an arbitration award within the prescribed period of six months due to the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures, the enterprise may, in accordance with Article 86 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, file an application for extension of the time limit to the people's court within 10 days after the impact of the epidemic situation has been eliminated; At the same time, the certificate of their location during the epidemic prevention and control period, as well as the documents of the local government on the prevention and control period and prevention and control measures are provided, and whether the permission is examined and decided by the people's court.
Enterprises can also claim that they are affected by the epidemic and cannot normally participate in relevant litigation activities. The people's court should make a comprehensive judgment based on the epidemic prevention and control situation and the circumstances of the case, and if it complies with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Emergency Response Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant provisions, the provisions on the suspension of the statute of limitations and the suspension of litigation can be applied. Except as otherwise provided by law.
二、During the epidemic prevention and control period, enterprises should apply for property preservation and renewal of property preservation in time.
In addition to by mail, enterprises can also submit property preservation or renewal applications through the "Shanghai Court Litigation Service Network", "Shanghai Court 12368" wechat public account, "Litigation preservation" or "Security Center" in the wechat mini program of "People's Court Online Service Shanghai". In case of emergency, it should be specifically indicated in the application. For enterprises affected by the epidemic in trouble, especially small, medium-sized and micro enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households, flexible property preservation guarantee methods can be adopted or the deposit ratio of property preservation guarantee can be appropriately lowered. Renewal of property preservation, especially through non-network freezing of the renewal of property preservation, shall be submitted to the people's court seven days before the expiration of the preservation period.
三、During the epidemic prevention and control period, enterprises can submit prosecution materials online.
If the enterprise submits the complaint and other materials that meet the requirements online by scanning, copying, transcribing, etc., it may no longer submit the paper documents. For the identification documents to be submitted by a foreign enterprise or organization when bringing a lawsuit, the proof of representative's participation in the lawsuit, and the power of attorney sent or entrusted by a foreigner, stateless person, foreign enterprise or organization without domicile in the territory of China, the notarization, certification or relevant certification procedures cannot be handled in time at the time of filing a lawsuit due to the epidemic situation or the epidemic prevention and control measures, If it is not possible to correct the relevant prosecution materials within the specified time limit, it may apply for an extension of the time limit according to law, and the people's court shall allow it according to law and determine a reasonable time limit for the extension as appropriate in light of the actual circumstances of the case.
四、During the epidemic prevention and control period, courts can be served by electronic means, and enterprises should pay attention.
During the epidemic prevention and control period, the court can complete the delivery of litigation documents through electronic delivery channels. Specific channels include China Trial Process Information Disclosure Network, Shanghai Court litigation Service network, Shanghai OneNetcom government affairs platform and other websites, "with the application of the public cloud" mobile APP, "Shanghai Court 12368" wechat public account, "People's Court Online service Shanghai" wechat mini program, mobile phone SMS and email. Enterprises can pay attention to the "Shanghai High Court on the further promotion of the application of electronic service several provisions (Trial)" issued by the official wechat public account of Shanghai High People's Court "Pujiang Tianping" on March 28, 2022, to understand the specific content.
In addition, during the epidemic prevention and control period, the case judgment can be carried out by online synchronous or asynchronous means, enterprises can pay attention to the "Online trial Operation Guide (Latest version)" issued by the official wechat public account of Shanghai High People's Court "Pujiang Tianping" on March 21, 2022, and "How to use the 'micro court'" issued on March 22 of the same year. Understand the specific preparation and operation methods.
五、Production and business enterprises that should have been taken to restrict consumption or included in the list of persons subject to enforcement for dishonesty, but are related to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, can be exempted from enforcement measures.
According to the needs of epidemic prevention and control work, from the perspective of the implementation of good faith civilization, enterprises with the above circumstances can suspend measures such as restricting consumption or being included in the list of persons subject to enforcement of dishonesty, so as to better protect the epidemic prevention and control work, but at the same time, they should do a good job of filing and approval.
At the same time, the production and operation enterprises of epidemic prevention and control materials that are included in the list of persons subject to enforcement for dishonesty can apply to the People's Court for restoration through online litigation platforms of Shanghai courts, mail and other online and offline channels with the relevant certificates issued by the Municipal Economic and Information Commission, the Commerce Commission, the Health and Health Commission and other departments. After accepting the application, the enforcement court will review it according to the specific circumstances, and if the situation is true, the dishonest information will be shielded within 3 working days and pushed to the relevant departments. Where a credit repair certificate is requested due to financing, bidding, etc., the enforcement court shall issue the relevant certification documents within 3 working days.
The outbreak of the epidemic has brought major uncertainties to the operation and development of enterprises. Hillhouse Law Firm will give full play to its professional advantages and effectively help enterprises prevent legal risks arising from the epidemic. In light of the current epidemic prevention and control needs and the actual situation of enterprises, we will provide more forms of legal services to enterprises to help them tide over the difficulties of the epidemic.