After examination, Pingjiang County People's Court held that the county and city where the defendant's lawyer was located was indeed a severe area for epidemic prevention and control, and the defendant's lawyer was a litigation participant who should appear in court. In this case, the defendant applied for an adjournment of the trial, which was in compliance with the law. For the case where the defendant applies for an adjournment, the plaintiff's consent is not required, and the people's court will make a decision according to the actual situation and relevant laws and regulations. Therefore, the People's Court of Pingjiang County informed the original defendant and the defendant to postpone the trial of this case, and the specific trial time will be notified separately according to the actual situation.
1. It is a litigation right of the parties to apply for an adjournment. Article 146th of the Civil Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that in any of the following circumstances, the hearing may be postponed:
(a) the parties who must appear in court and other participants in the proceedings have justified reasons for not appearing in court;
(2) The party concerned temporarily applies for withdrawal;
(3) It is necessary to notify new witnesses to appear in court, obtain new evidence, re-authenticate, conduct an inquest or make supplementary investigations;
(4) Other circumstances that should be postponed.
2. Article 58 of the Civil Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates: "The parties and legal representatives may entrust one or two persons as agents ad litem. The following persons may be entrusted as agents ad litem:
(1) Lawyers and grassroots legal service workers? "Therefore, a lawyer, as an entrusted agent of a party, belongs to the participants in the proceedings. Hiring a lawyer as a litigation agent is a basic right of the parties, which has a great influence on protecting their litigation rights and interests. In this case, the lawyer hired by the defendant also belongs to other participants who must appear in court. Besides the personal attribute of mutual trust, there is also a contractual relationship between the parties and the agent ad litem, so this case is not an arbitrary replacement advocated by the plaintiff.
1. It is generally believed that the legitimate reasons why the parties and other participants who have to appear in court cannot appear in court include at least:
2. Sudden events, such as sudden illness, traffic accidents, robbers, etc. , happen.
3. Force majeure, such as major natural disasters or social changes that human resources cannot foresee, avoid and overcome, such as major earthquakes, hurricanes, wars, public health emergencies, etc. At the end of 265438+2009, public health emergencies broke out in novel coronavirus. In order to protect public health, the government has also taken corresponding epidemic prevention and control measures. The National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) Law Committee also defined the epidemic as force majeure.
To sum up, the lawyer hired by the defendant was unable to appear in court due to epidemic prevention and control, and the defendant applied for an extension of the court session, which was in compliance with the law. Therefore, the court allowed the defendant to postpone the hearing of the application according to law.
The novel coronavirus epidemic at the end of February19, as a public health emergency, had a comprehensive impact on the society. During the epidemic prevention and control period, the court should properly handle all kinds of cases during the epidemic prevention and control period.
When trying civil cases in court.