Chinese courts to blacklist judgment defaulters

BEIJING - Chinese courts will create credit blacklists of those who fail to perform judicial judgments and make them available to the public, according to a regulation promulgated by the country's top court on Friday.

The regulation, which will take effect from October 1, will help deter defendants from defaulting on a judicial execution as well as promote the establishment of the social credit system, said the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

According to the regulation, the courts will blacklist people who refuse or fail to enforce judicial execution through false evidence, violence and threats, and those who use fraudulent litigation and arbitration and property transfers to avoid performing their duties.

Local credit blacklists will be submitted to the SPC database, the regulation said.

Detailed information concerning the defendants who fail to perform the court judgments, such as their names, addresses and ID card numbers, will be publicized in newspapers, as well as on television and the Internet.

"Blacklisted people will receive credit punishment as the exposure affects their reputation," said SPC spokesman Sun Jungong, adding the regulation has lifted the cost of losing credibility.

"I never expected that it is so difficult for courts to implement their decisions," Shen Qifang, a deputy of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, said when conducting research of courts in southeast China's Jiangxi Province.

Heads of courts in Jiangxi said the fulfillment rate of judgments in local areas was only 50 percent.

Defendants often fled away and disappeared even when cases were still on the docket, said Yang Gaihua, head of the implementation office of the Ruijin Municipal People's Court. "It's hard to find them," said Yang.

The SPC said it will establish an online database of blacklisted people and the public can inquire about individuals and companies which lose their credibility in performing their legal duties.