The 18th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress voted to approve the United Nations Anti-Corruption Convention on the afternoon of the 27th. Corruption Convention Decision. The meeting also announced that the People's Republic of China and the State are not bound by Article 66, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Recovering stolen money and property through civil litigation means that the plaintiff (usually the victim or his agent) submits civil litigation requests such as confirmation lawsuits and infringement lawsuits to domestic or foreign courts with actual jurisdiction, and the court makes a judgment. , determine that the plaintiff has legal ownership of the criminal proceeds or stolen property illegally transferred out of the country by the defendant, or determine that the person who illegally possesses the items (usually a criminal suspect who fled abroad) has infringed the law and order compensation or return, or accept the civil authorization of the party, Apply to foreign judicial authorities to execute civil judgments or rulings through civil judicial assistance channels to recover assets. This is a new and important way of international cooperation against corruption. Civil lawsuits can be filed domestically or abroad. Domestic civil litigation can be initiated by the plaintiff (usually the victim, including the state and other legal owners) to a people's court with jurisdiction to confirm ownership or compensation for damages or infringement compensation, and the people's court will make a judgment in accordance with the law (a default judgment can be made ) or make a ruling to order the criminal suspect to compensate for losses, and then order the criminal suspect to compensate for losses in accordance with the provisions of Article 266 of the National Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. Article 266 of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Ethnic Affairs Litigation Law stipulates that "for a judgment or ruling made by a people's court that has taken legal effect, if the person subject to execution or his property is not within the territory of the People's Republic of China, and the party concerned requests execution, the party shall An application for recognition and enforcement may be made directly to a foreign court with jurisdiction, or the People's Court may apply for recognition and enforcement in accordance with the provisions of an international treaty or a reciprocal treaty concluded by the People's Republic of China or in accordance with the provisions of a treaty concluded or joined by the People's Republic of China. provisions of international treaties, or request foreign courts to recognize and enforce them based on the principle of reciprocity". The method of filing a civil lawsuit abroad means that the plaintiff or the victim can entrust a foreign lawyer to file a civil lawsuit with the court of the country where the stolen money and stolen goods were transferred, requesting recognition of the ownership of the stolen money and stolen goods, and applying to the court of that country for execution and return of the stolen money and stolen goods. In addition, our country can also, through judicial assistance channels, claim property ownership in accordance with the law to the country where the stolen money is located, and request that country’s courts or competent authorities to confiscate and return it. In comparison, in international judicial practice, civil litigation is generally more convenient and effective. In civil litigation, as long as it can be relatively fully proven that the stolen money and stolen goods are not legally owned by the criminal suspect, and the legal owner files a request for return, you can request confirmation of ownership and return of the property. To improve and perfect our country’s foreign-related civil litigation procedure system, we should absorb the relevant procedural provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and learn from useful practices in international and foreign civil litigation. On the basis of improving and improving our country’s foreign-related civil procedure system, we should Combination of practical experience in civil litigation and civil judicial assistance. Further revise and improve my country’s civil litigation system, especially the foreign-related civil litigation procedure system. First, through the revision of the Civil Procedure Law, the scope of civil litigation jurisdiction has been expanded, and the scope of civil litigation over criminal assets has been expanded to "actions for confirmation", "actions for infringement" and "actions for return" of legal property ownership; second, based on International conventions, international practices and the principle of reciprocity make it possible for foreign government departments to be the subject of civil litigation for recovering stolen goods; third, it is important to improve the application of laws in foreign-related civil litigation as an important content. In particular, it is necessary to increase civil litigation as a means to solve the problem of returning overseas criminal assets; fourth, change the judicial initiation procedure of "prison before civil litigation", separate criminal litigation and civil litigation for the same crime, and establish an independent civil litigation mechanism for the recovery of stolen goods. . In order to strengthen the exchange of international experience in civil litigation for recovering stolen goods and cultivate a group of legal talents in civil litigation for recovering stolen goods overseas, we must carefully study the judicial systems of various countries, especially countries with prominent inflows of criminal assets, such as the civil legal system of the United States and foreign-related civil litigation. Procedural systems, civil judicial assistance systems, etc., civil legal systems in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries, foreign-related civil litigation procedures systems, civil judicial assistance systems, etc., and combined with specific cases to study the measures that should be taken to conduct civil litigation abroad. Countermeasures.
We should focus on studying the civil evidence system, the statute of limitations system, the assumption of civil liability, and the inevitable connection between litigation claims, return of stolen goods, and infringement. At present, we should focus on exchanges and communication with countries around the world in this regard, summarize successful experiences, formulate model implementation details, and promote the signing of relevant international treaties or international conventions by holding international conferences, seminars, training courses, experience exchange meetings, etc. Resolve the issue of recovery of stolen goods in civil litigation. It is necessary to focus on cultivating a group of expert talents who are proficient in the civil laws and civil procedure laws of relevant countries, and who are also proficient in using judicial assistance methods and international anti-corruption cooperation. We should also cultivate a group of government lawyers who specialize in overseas civil recovery of stolen goods to assist governments and enterprises in overseas Carry out civil litigation activities. In addition, when it comes to overseas civil recovery litigation methods, we should also try our best to obtain help, support and cooperation from the United Nations and other international organizations (such as the World Bank), especially material and technical assistance, to recover criminal assets that have flowed abroad as much as possible.