2016年以來,中國仲裁的司法環(huán)境日趨友善,中國中央政府對仲裁事業(yè)發(fā)展的態(tài)度也越來越開明和支持。
最高人民法院對仲裁的支持體現(xiàn)在三個方面,一是發(fā)布司法解釋,從臨時(shí)措施、司法審查、裁決執(zhí)行等方面支持仲裁發(fā)展;二是設(shè)立國際商事法庭,選擇國際商事仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)共同構(gòu)建“一站式”國際商事糾紛解決機(jī)制;三是發(fā)布司法政策文件,從宏觀方面改善仲裁的司法環(huán)境。
在臨時(shí)措施方面,最高人民法院于2016年11月發(fā)布《關(guān)于人民法院辦理財(cái)產(chǎn)保全案件若干問題的規(guī)定》,為仲裁過程中采取財(cái)產(chǎn)保全措施提供了有力保障。2019年4月,最高人民法院發(fā)布《關(guān)于內(nèi)地與香港特別行政區(qū)法院就仲裁程序相互協(xié)助保全的安排》,以香港為仲裁地,并由香港特別行政區(qū)政府和最高人民法院雙方確認(rèn)的機(jī)構(gòu)或者常設(shè)辦事處管理的仲裁程序當(dāng)事人,可以依法向內(nèi)地法院申請財(cái)產(chǎn)保全、證據(jù)保全和行為保全。2019年9月,香港特別行政區(qū)政府公布了6家符合資格的機(jī)構(gòu)和常設(shè)辦事處名單。2019年10月,上海海事法院作出該《安排》項(xiàng)下的第一例財(cái)產(chǎn)保全裁定,仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)為香港國際仲裁中心。
在司法審查方面,最高人民法院于2017年12月發(fā)布《關(guān)于仲裁司法審查案件歸口辦理有關(guān)問題的通知》,將國內(nèi)國際仲裁司法審查案件統(tǒng)一交由涉外審判庭或合議庭歸口辦理,確保裁判標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的統(tǒng)一。同月最高人民法院發(fā)布《關(guān)于仲裁司法審查案件報(bào)核問題的有關(guān)規(guī)定》、《關(guān)于審理仲裁司法審查案件若干問題的規(guī)定》,維持涉外(港澳臺)仲裁司法審查案件直至最高人民法院核準(zhǔn)的“三級法院”報(bào)核制度,創(chuàng)立了非涉外(港澳臺)仲裁司法審查案件直至高級人民法院核準(zhǔn)的“兩級法院”報(bào)核制度。
在裁決執(zhí)行方面,最高人民法院于2018年2月發(fā)布《關(guān)于人民法院辦理仲裁裁決執(zhí)行案件若干問題的規(guī)定》,統(tǒng)一了仲裁裁決執(zhí)行尺度。
2018年6月,最高人民法院發(fā)布《關(guān)于設(shè)立國際商事法庭若干問題的規(guī)定》,決定選定符合條件的國際商事調(diào)解機(jī)構(gòu)、國際商事仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)與國際商事法庭共同構(gòu)建調(diào)解、仲裁、訴訟有機(jī)銜接的糾紛解決平臺,形成“一站式”國際商事糾紛解決機(jī)制。2018年12月,中國國際經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易仲裁委員會等5家仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)和2家調(diào)解中心被納入該解決機(jī)制。根據(jù)2018年11月最高人民法院發(fā)布的《國際商事法庭程序規(guī)則(試行)》,這些仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)受理的標(biāo)的額在人民幣3億元以上國際商事仲裁案件的保全、仲裁裁決的撤銷和執(zhí)行由國際商事法庭受理。
目前,最高人民法院第一國際商事法庭設(shè)立在廣東省深圳市,第二國際商事法庭設(shè)立在陜西省西安市。
在宏觀方面,從2016年6月開始,最高人民法院連續(xù)發(fā)布《關(guān)于人民法院進(jìn)一步深化多元化糾紛解決機(jī)制改革的意見》《關(guān)于人民法院為“一帶一路”建設(shè)提供司法服務(wù)和保障的若干意見》《關(guān)于為自由貿(mào)易試驗(yàn)區(qū)建設(shè)提供司法保障的意見》,要求各級法院加強(qiáng)與仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)的對接,積極支持仲裁制度改革,促進(jìn)國際商事海事仲裁在“一帶一路”建設(shè)中發(fā)揮作用,支持自貿(mào)試驗(yàn)區(qū)仲裁制度創(chuàng)新。例如,《關(guān)于為自由貿(mào)易試驗(yàn)區(qū)建設(shè)提供司法保障的意見》規(guī)定,在自貿(mào)試驗(yàn)區(qū)內(nèi)注冊的外商獨(dú)資企業(yè)相互之間約定商事爭議提交域外仲裁的,不應(yīng)僅以其爭議不具有涉外因素為由認(rèn)定相關(guān)仲裁協(xié)議無效,就是對之前“無涉外因素爭議不能提交境外仲裁”原則的重大突破。
中國中央政府對仲裁的態(tài)度也越來越開明和支持。 2019年4月,中辦、國辦聯(lián)合發(fā)布《關(guān)于完善仲裁制度提高仲裁公信力的若干意見》,認(rèn)為仲裁是中國法律規(guī)定的糾紛解決制度,也是國際通行的糾紛解決方式。2019年7月,中辦、國辦聯(lián)合發(fā)布《關(guān)于加快推進(jìn)公共法律服務(wù)體系建設(shè)的意見》,提出要整合仲裁優(yōu)勢資源,打造國際知名仲裁機(jī)構(gòu),促進(jìn)和支持仲裁機(jī)構(gòu)參與國際商事爭端解決。
2019年7月,國務(wù)院發(fā)布《中國(上海)自由貿(mào)易試驗(yàn)區(qū)臨港新片區(qū)總體方案》,允許境外知名仲裁及爭議解決機(jī)構(gòu)經(jīng)上海市人民政府司法行政部門登記并報(bào)國務(wù)院司法行政部門備案,在新片區(qū)內(nèi)設(shè)立業(yè)務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu),就國際商事、海事、投資等領(lǐng)域發(fā)生的民商事爭議開展仲裁業(yè)務(wù)。
2015年起,香港國際仲裁中心、國際商會、新加坡國際仲裁中心、大韓商事仲裁院均在上海設(shè)立了代表處。他們是否將在臨港新片區(qū)成立業(yè)務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu),我們拭目以待。最高人民法院是否會在臨港新片區(qū)成立第三個國際商事法庭,或者上海市高級人民法院是否會在臨港新片區(qū)成立上海國際商事法院,都是值得期待的未來。
筆者堅(jiān)信,在友善的司法環(huán)境中,在積極的政府支持下,中國仲裁事業(yè)將迎來更加美好的明天。
Arbitration in China Will Have a Bright Prospect
Since 2016, the judicial environment for arbitration in China has become increasingly friendly, and the Central Government of China has adopted an increasingly liberal and supportive attitude towards the development of arbitration.
The Supreme People's Court's support for arbitration is reflected in three aspects. The first is the issuance of judicial interpretations, which supports the development of arbitration from the aspects of interim measures, judicial review and enforcement of awards; the second is the establishment of international commercial courts, which builds a "one-stop" international commercial dispute settlement mechanism jointly with international commercial arbitration institutions; and the third is the issuance of judicial policy documents, which improves the judicial environment for arbitration from a macro perspective.
In terms of interim measures, the Supreme People's Court issued the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Handling of Property Preservation Cases by the People's Courts in November 2016, providing a powerful guarantee for the adoption of property preservation measures in the arbitration process. In April 2019, the Supreme People's Court issued the Arrangement between Courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for Mutual Assistance and Preservation Measures in Arbitration Proceedings. According to this Arrangement, parties to arbitration procedures that take Hong Kong as the place of arbitration and are managed by institutions or permanent offices unanimously confirmed by both the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Supreme People's Court may apply to Mainland courts for property preservation, evidence preservation and act preservation according to law. In September 2019, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced a list of six qualified institutions and permanent offices. In October 2019, the Shanghai Maritime Court made the first property preservation ruling under the Arrangement and the arbitration institution was the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center.
With regard to judicial review, the Supreme People's Court issued the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning the Centralized Handling of Judicial Review Cases on Arbitration in December 2017, transferring domestic judicial review cases on international arbitration to foreign-related tribunals or collegial panels for centralized handling to ensure the unification of adjudication standards. In the same month, the Supreme People's Court issued the Relevant Provisions on Issues Concerning Report and Approval of Cases Involving Judicial Review of Arbitration and Provisions on Several Issues Concerning Trial of Cases Involving Judicial Review of Arbitration, maintaining the "three-level courts" reporting and approval system for foreign-related (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) judicial review cases on arbitration up to the approval of the Supreme People's Court, and establishing a "two-level courts" reporting and approval system for non-foreign-related (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) judicial review cases on arbitration up to the approval of the Higher People's Courts.
Regarding the enforcement of awards, the Supreme People's Court issued the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning People's Courts Handling Cases of Enforcement of Arbitration Awards in February 2018, unifying the enforcement criteria of arbitration awards.
In June 2018, the Supreme People's Court issued the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of International Commercial Courts, deciding to select qualified international commercial mediation institutions, international commercial arbitration institutions and international commercial courts to jointly build a dispute settlement platform that organically integrates mediation, arbitration and litigation to form a "one-stop" international commercial dispute settlement mechanism. In December 2018, five arbitration institutions and two mediation centers, including the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, were incorporated into the settlement mechanism. According to the Rules of Procedure for International Commercial Courts (Trial) issued by the Supreme People's Court in November 2018, the preservation of international commercial arbitration cases accepted by these arbitration institutions with the amount of subject of more than 300 million yuan, as well as the cancellation and enforcement of arbitration awards thereof, shall be accepted by the international commercial courts.
Currently, the First International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court is established in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, and the Second International Commercial Court is established in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province.
At the macro level, starting from June 2016, the Supreme People's Court has successively issued the Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of Diversified Dispute Settlement Mechanism in People's Courts, Opinions on People's Courts Providing Judicial Services and Guarantees for the Construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and Opinions on Providing Judicial Guarantees for the Construction of Free Trade Pilot Zone, requiring courts at all levels to strengthen their connection with arbitration institutions, actively support the reform of arbitration system, promote the role of international commercial and maritime arbitration in the construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative," and support the innovation of arbitration system in free trade pilot zones. For example, the Opinions on Providing Judicial Guarantees for the Construction of Free Trade Pilot Zones stipulates that when wholly foreign-owned enterprises registered in the pilot free trade zone mutually agree to submit commercial disputes for overseas arbitration, the relevant arbitration agreement shall not be deemed invalid on the sole ground that the disputes do not contain foreign-related factors, which is a major breakthrough to the previous principle that "disputes without foreign-related factors cannot be submitted to overseas arbitration."
The Central Government of China has adopted an increasingly liberal and supportive attitude towards arbitration. In April 2019, the Central Government of China issued the Several Opinions on Improving the Arbitration System and Enhancing the Credibility of Arbitration, which holds that arbitration is not only a dispute settlement system prescribed by Chinese laws, but also a dispute settlement method internationally accepted. In July 2019, the Central Government of China issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Public Legal Service System, proposing to integrate superior resources in arbitration, create internationally renowned arbitration institutions, and promote and support arbitration institutions to participate in the settlement of international commercial disputes.
In July 2019, the Central Government of China issued the Overall Plan for Lin-gang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, allowing overseas well-known arbitration and dispute settlement institutions to set up business organizations in Lin-gang Special Area to conduct arbitration business on civil and commercial disputes arising from international commerce, maritime affairs, investment and other fields after registering with the judicial administrative departments of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and reporting to the judicial administrative departments of the State Council for the record.
Since 2015, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, International Chamber of Commerce, Singapore International Arbitration Center and Korean Commercial Arbitration Court have all set up representative offices in Shanghai. We will see whether they will set up their respective business institutions in the Lin-gang Special Area. And we will also see whether the Supreme People's Court will set up a third international commercial court in the Lin-gang Special Area, or High Court of Shanghai may establish Shanghai International Commercial Court in Lin-gang.
I firmly believe that in a friendly judicial environment and with the strong support from the government, arbitration in China will undoubtedly have a bright prospect.