Resolution of Economic Disputes: litigation
Resolution of Economic Disputes: litigation
(II) Second instance procedure
The second instance procedure, also known as the appeal procedure, refers to the procedure applied by the people's court at the next higher level to hear an appeal case filed by a party who challenges a decree or an order of the first instance people's court that has not yet taken effect. China applies a two-instance trial system, whereby a party who challenges a decree or an order of a people's court of first instance may file an appeal to the people's court at the next higher level. According to the Civil Procedure Law, an appeal must meet the following conditions: only the parties to a case of first instance may file an appeal; and an appeal may be filed only if a decree or an order is appealable as defined by law. Where a party challenges a decree of a local people's court of first instance, they have the right to appeal to the people's court at the next higher level within 15 days from the date of service of the decree. Where a party challenges an order of a local people's court of first instance, they have the right to appeal to the people's court at the next higher level within 10 days from the date of service of the order. A challenging party shall submit a petition for appeal to the people's court of first instance, accompanied by copies based on the number of the agents ad litem or representatives of the other party.
The people's court of second instance shall review the relevant facts claimed in the appeal and the application law, and form a collegial panel to hear the case. After reviewing and investigating the documents, questioning the parties, and verifying the facts, the collegial panel may also make a decree or an order if it deems it unnecessary to conduct a court trial. After hearing an appeal case, the people's court of second instance shall: ① make a decree to dismiss the appeal and sustain the original decree if the facts were clearly ascertained and the law was correctly applied in the original decree; ② modify the original decree in accordance with the law if there was an error in applying the law in the original decree; ③ make an order to overrule the original decree and remand it to the original people's court for retrial or modify the original decree after ascertaining the facts if the facts were erroneously ascertained or not clearly ascertained or the evidence was insufficient in the original decree; or ④ make an order to overrule the original decree and remand it to the original people's court for retrial if there was a violation of the legal procedure in making the original decree. The decrees and orders of a people's court of second instance are final. The parties may appeal against a decree or an order make in a retrial of their case.
Robert Zhang 
Steve Li 