Court pressure forces 3.2m to pay debts

CHINA is making headway in cracking court judgment enforcement difficulty problems, forcing more than 3.2 million defaulters to pay debts as required in court judgments.

From 2016 to September of 2018, courts nationwide received 18.84 million applications of judgment enforcement, among which 16.93 million were wrapped up, said Chief Justice Zhou Qiang while delivering a report to a bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

Noting that the number of enforced debt judgments posted a 120 percent rise compared with the previous period, Zhou attributed the improvement to several aspects, such as the establishment of a credit system which can punish those who fail to follow through on a court judgment.

Since 2016, the Supreme People’s Court has joined hands with 60 ministries and agencies to build a joint disciplinary mechanism which can impose restrictions on defaulters holding public office, buying high-speed train or plane tickets, making investments and bidding for contracts, said Zhou.

“As of September 2018, 12.11 million people have been blacklisted by the courts after they failed to fulfill court judgments,” said Zhou, adding that over 3.2 million defaulters were forced to pay debts and honor court judgments under the pressure of such punitive measures.

Zhou also highlighted the expanded use of online judicial sales platforms, handling more than 80 percent of the items in the judicial auction system. Three Boeing 747 freighters were auctioned on an online judicial sales platform last year, for 466 million yuan (US$67 million).