Материал: Том 2 № 3

Цифровоеправо.Том2, №3, 2021, с.23–45

ЦзяньинСан/Разрешениеонлайнспоровсучастиемпотребителей:опытКитая

Поступила:05.09.2021,принятавпечать:27.09.2021,опубликована:30.09.2020

Introduction

Online shopping is closely linked with almost everyone globally; people are getting used to purchasinggoodsandachievingservicesthroughInternet,amoreefficientandconvenientapproachfor businessorhouseholduse.

More than 90 %ofChinesepeoplewouldprobablygivethesameanswerwhenbeingaskedwhich websitetheymostfrequentlychoosetopurchasefrom,andthatanswerwoulddoubtlessbeTaobao and Tmall. These two websites belong to the well-known Alibaba Group, though they operate differenttypesofelectroniccommerce.1 Take2020,forinstance,Alibaba’sSingle’sDaySalesonNovember 11 totaled a record $ 74.1 billion (¥ 498.2 billion) gross merchandise volume, an increase of 26 % over 2019.2 Accompanied by the rapid development of online shopping, disputes arising therefrom increaseaswell.

Traditionally, dispute resolution for a consumer contract is a domestic law issue due to the low involvement of foreign elements. Two solutions take effect in parallel and are mutually complementarybasedontheirnatureandcharacteristics.Thesesolutionsarethejudicialapproachoflitigation andAlternativeDisputeResolution(ADR).

With the high involvement of the Internet in consumer transactions, online consumer contract disputesincrease.Onlineconsumercontractdisputescanbesolvedthroughalitigationprocessand Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). A litigation process can proceed both online and offline. Online litigation can provide both online consumers and online sellers a higher level of efficiency and conveniencetosolvetheircontractualdisputescomparedwiththeofflinelitigationprocess.Thisonline serviceisprovidedbytheInternetcourt.

The headquarter of Alibaba Group locates in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, a city that combines the beauty of modernity and anciency in the south of Yangtze River. According to the statistics published by the SupremePeople’s Court in2018, more than 70 %ofonline consumercontractdisputes involve either Taobao or Tmall.3 Online consumer contract transactions face the challenge of virtuality, intelligence, high-speed, and so forth, which requires the disputes arising thereof need to be solved with high efficiency but without hampering justice. Traditional courts could help to realize justice. However, contracting parties, especially the consumer, may bear the burden of the long and complicated litigation procedure, which is both time and money-consuming. In consideration

1On Taobao,thebarriersforentryofthesellerarelessrestrictthanthoseonTmall,thereforetheTaobao is preferable by individual sellers, whereas medium and large sized enterprises are registered on Tmall. In consideration of this,Taobao isatypicalC2C website while Tmall mainlyservesforB2C business.

2On “Single Days” (Nov. 11), in order to entice customers, the retailers on Tmall, Taobao and other online shopping platforms will offer their goods at a discount. Business-wire. (n.a.). Alibaba Generates RMB498.2 Billion (US $ 74.1 Billion) in GMV During the 2020 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201111005881/en/

Alibaba-Generates-RMB498.2-Billion-US74.1-Billion-in-GMV-During-the-2020-11.11-Global-Shopping-Festival

3China Justice Big Data Institute. Judicial big data special report: Online consumer contract dispute, figure 6. http://www.court.gov.cn/fabu-xiangqing-119911.html

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Digital Law Journal.Vol.2, No.3, 2021,p.23–45

Jianing Sang / Internet Court on Solving Online Consumer Contract Disputes: Case of China

ofthereasonsabove,anideatoadjustthecurrentjudicialsystemwasproposed.Itwasfirstlaunched inpracticeinHangzhou,wheresuchasolutionismoreurgentlyneeded.

Internet Court

Internet Court and ODR

WhenitcomestotheInternetage,ifacontractisconcludedonline,andthatcyberdealgoessour, perhaps the online community itself can best resolve it.4 ODR, which is known as “Online Dispute Resolution”,wasproposedtoapplyforsolvingonlinedisputesinadditiontothetraditionaljudicial litigationprocess.DefinitionofODRcouldbeillustratedbothnarrowlyandbroadly.Inthefirstsense, ODR is defined as an alternative dispute resolution that operates online, that is, an online alternative dispute resolution. The American Bar Association Task Force on E-Commerce and Alternative DisputeResolution(theABATaskForce)proposedworkableregimesforonlinetransactionsandODR. AccordingtotheirFinalRecommendationsandReport,ODRisdefinedas:

“A broad term that encompasses many forms of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) that incorporate the use of the Internet, websites, e-mail communications, streaming media, and other information technology as part of the dispute resolution process. Parties may never meet face to face whenparticipatinginODR.Rather,theymightcommunicatesolelyonline.”5

The EU treats ODR as “alternative dispute resolution (ADR) transferred to the online environment”.6 Even though ODR is often regarded as an online ADR, I would say that this perception is too narrowtoachieveathoroughandclearunderstandingofODR.

In practice, Internet court operation is not isolated from other online alternative methods, namely, online negotiation, online mediation, and online arbitration. These alternative methods are often asked to be applied before the last step of the online judicial solution. This requirement is in considerationofthecommonalitythatbothInternetcourtandonlinealternativemethodsshare.Justas theEUadmitted,thepublicjusticesystem—courtsandjudges,whenbeingtransformedintoonline Internetcourts,shouldbethemostsatisfactorylong-termsolutiontodisputeresolutiononlineand in cross-border consumer disputes.7 The technology assisted in ODR can be either stand-alone or connectedwithanofficialbody,suchasacourt.

An Overview of Internet Court

Though it has not been generally accepted that Internet court, is an ODR method. The Internet court has already been adopted in practice and has provided some successful experiences. It is a dispute resolution method, no matter being deemed an extension of court procedure from offline to online, or to be regarded as an independent ODR method that could effectively help solve disputesoveronlineconsumercontracts.

4Martin, M. S. (2002). Keep it online: The Hague convention and the need for online alternative dispute resolution in internationalbusiness-to-consumerecommerce.BostonUniversityInternationalLawJournal,20, 150.

5American bar association task force on e-Commerce and alternative dispute resolution. (2002). Addressing disputes in electroniccommerce-Finalreportandrecommendations.TheBusinessLawyer.58(1), 419.

6Edwards, L., Wilson, C. Redress & alternative dispute resolution in cross-Border e-Commerce transactions. Briefing note. IP/A/IMCO/NT/2006-206. Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201406/20140602ATT84796/20140602ATT84796EN.pdf

7Ibid, 9.

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Цифровоеправо.Том2, №3, 2021, с.23–45 ЦзяньинСан/Разрешениеонлайнспоровсучастиемпотребителей:опытКитая

The first Internet court in China was launched in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on August 18, 2017. One month later, the Beijing Internet Court and the Guangzhou Internet Court were also established, these three Internet Courts constitute the current Chinese Internet Court system. According to the statistics published by the Supreme People’s Court (June 18, 2021), from 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2021, 12.19 million cases were filed online, accounting for 28.3 % of the total number ofthecasesfiled;1.28 milliononlinehearingswereconducted,takinganaverageof42.34 minutes for each hearing; as for court-referred mediation, 6.51 million cases were mediated online and 6.14 million cases were successfully mediated in the pre-trial.8 In this paper, illustrations are mainly given from Hangzhou Internet Court, with its operational Litigation Platform of Hangzhou Internet Court.9 Since it is the first Internet court litigation platform established in China, more detailed rules and cases could be found compared with the other two more recent Internet courts. Therefore, this articlewouldmainlyrefertotheHangzhouInternetCourtforfurtherdiscussions.

Hangzhou Internet Court

General Information

According to the statistics published by Hangzhou Internet Litigation Platform, it has received more than 11 600 cases ever since its establishment. In 99.06 % of the cases, the judgments were accepted by litigants. Rather than existing in a virtual, isolated way, the Hangzhou Internet Court is closely linked with the real world and the judicial system hereinto. To build up the connection between cyberspace and the actual physical world, the Hangzhou Litigation Platform works as the bridge in between. For instance, during the process of case categorization, this litigation plat- formtakeschargeofthecasedistributionuponacceptanceofthecasesubmittedbytheCase-filing Division of the Internet Court, with the help of the Information Management System of the People’s CourtofZhejiangProvince,inwhichallcase-relatedelectronicfileswillbestored.10

Besides substantive functions, this litigation platform also helps the Internet court and the litigants stay in touch. For instance, upon successful acceptance of the case by the platform, the plaintiff and the defendant can browse the litigation documents such as the notice of the acceptance of the case or the notice of the response to lawsuits, the notice of evidence submission, the notice ofrightsandduties.11

8The supreme people’s court of the PRC, The SPC releases the rules of online litigation of people’s court. http://english. court.gov.cn/2021-06/18/content_37545136.htm

9Hangzhou Internet Court. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/portal/main/domain/ index.htm. In addition to the website provides, parties could also use the mini program of Hangzhou Litigation Platform through the application of WeChat on the phone. While so far, the mini program only supports the litigation brought aboutbynaturalperson.

10Article 14 of the trial procedure of the Litigation Platform of Hangzhou Internet Court (“Trial Procedure”): “The casefiling division of Internet Court will put the case-related electronic files into the information management system of the people’s court of zhejiang province on the day when the court accepts the case, and synchronously put them into the Litigation Platform online. The litigation platform distributes the case to the judge on the day when it accepts thecase.”HangzhouHulianwangFayuanSusongPingtaiShenliGuicheng( )[Trial procedure of the litigation platform of Hangzhou Internet Court] (promulgated by the Hangzhou Internet Court, May. 31, 2018),https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/portal/indexRpc/viewProcedure.json?fileIdStr=EyGmDRYbBzklQqHCx7oAHQ(China).

11Supra,n.10, Article 12.

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Digital Law Journal.Vol.2, No.3, 2021,p.23–45

Jianing Sang / Internet Court on Solving Online Consumer Contract Disputes: Case of China

BeforewegofurtherintothespecificproceduraloperationofHangzhouInternetCourt,itshould benotedthat,althoughitiscalledanInternetCourt,itisstillnotanisolatedcourtthatmerelyexists online.AccordingtotheOrganicLawofthePeople’sRepublicofChina,courtsinChinacouldbeclassifiedintothreetypes:TheSupremePeople’sCourt,theLocalPeople’sCourt,andtheSpecialPeople’s Court. On the local level, courts could be divided into the High People’s Court, the Intermediate People’sCourt,andtheBasicPeople’sCourt.EventhoughInternetcourtshearcasesthatwithaspecial characteristic, their establishment has no legal basis such as the establishment decision made bytheStandingCommitteeofthePeople’sCongress.Therefore,theestablishmentofInternetcourts doesnotmeettherequirementsofthelaw,InternetcourtsarenotlistedasSpecialPeople’sCourts.12 InternetcourtsareatthelevelofBasicPeople’sCourts,theyspecificallyhavecentralizedjurisdiction overInternetcasesthatfallwithinthecities’jurisdictionwheretheseInternetcourtslocate.

Legislation over Internet Court

A clear sign that Internet court is treated as an independent online dispute resolution is that the court is regulated under specific legislation. The legal basis that governs the operation of these three Internet Courts are:

1. Rules of Online Litigation of the People’s Court of China (“Online Litigation Rules”). It is a recently established Supreme People’s Court judicial interpretation, aims at regulating the online litigation process regarding the legal validity, basic principles, applicable scope, and applicable conditionsofonlinelitigation.13

2. The Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Cases by Internet Courts

(“Judicial Interpretation of Internet Courts”).14 It was specifically established in terms of online disputes and Internet courts. Different from the Online Litigation Rules, this judicial interpretation emphasizes,moreprecisely,theonlinelitigationprocessofthethreeInternetcourts.

3. The Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China (“the Civil Procedure Law”).15 It provides general procedural rules in the situation where no detailed regulations could be found from theJudicialInterpretationofInternetCourts.

4. Interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law ofthePeople’sRepublicofChina(“InterpretationofCivilProcedureLaw”).16

12Article 15, Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Renmin Fyuan Zuzhi Fa ( ) [Organic law of thePeople’s RepublicofChina](promulgatedbytheStanding Comm. Nat’lPeople’s Cong.,Jul.01, 1979, lastmodified Oct. 26, 2018,effectiveJan.1, 2019),http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/2018-10/26/content_2064483.htm (China).

13Renmin Fayuan Zaixian Susong Guize, Fashi [2021] Shier Hao ( 2021 12 ) [Rules of online litigation of the people’s court of China, Judicial Interpretation No. 12 [2021]] (promulgated by the Judicial Comm. Sup.People’sCt.,May.18, 2021,effectiveAug.01, 2021),http://www.court.gov.cn/zixun-xiangqing-309551.html(China).

14Zuigao Renmin Fayuan Guanyu Hulianwang Fayuan Shenli Anjian Ruogan Wenti De Guiding, Fashi [2018] Shiliu Hao (2018 16 ) [Supreme people’s court on several issues concerning the trial of cases by Internet courts, Judicial Interpretation No. 16 [2018]] (promulgated by the Judicial Comm.Sup.People’sCt.,Sep.3, 2018,effectiveSep.7, 2018),http://www.court.gov.cn/zixun-xiangqing-116981.html(China).

15Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Minshi Susong Fa ( ) [Civil procedure law of the people’s Republic of China] (promulgated by the Standing Comm. Nat’l People’s Cong., Apr. 9, 1991, effective Apr. 9, 1991, last modifiedJun.27, 2017),http://www.moj.gov.cn/Department/content/2018-12/25/357_182594.html(China).

16Zuigao Renmin Fayuan Guanyu Shiyong <Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Minshi Susong Fa> De Jieshi, Fashi [2015] Wu Hao, ( 2015 5 ) [Interpretations of the Supreme People’s court on the application of the civil procedure law of the People’s Republic of China, Judicial InterpretationNo.5[2015]](promulgatedbytheJudicialComm.Sup.People’sCt.,Dec.18, 2014,effectiveFeb.4, 2015),Sup. People’sCt.Gaz,Jan.30, 2015.http://gongbao.court.gov.cn/Details/63ff48da6a9792f8ad1cb65a8b99d1.html (China).

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Цифровоеправо.Том2, №3, 2021, с.23–45 ЦзяньинСан/Разрешениеонлайнспоровсучастиемпотребителей:опытКитая

5.The CyberSecurityLawofthePeople’sRepublicofChina(“CyberSecurityLaw”).17

In addition to aforesaid laws, each Internet Court has established its own procedural rules.18 For instance, on the official website of Hangzhou Internet Court, the following litigation documents could be accessed: the OutlineofOnlineCourtTrial (“Simplified Procedure”)19, GuidelinesRegarding the Litigation and Jurisdiction of Internet-involved Cases (“Jurisdiction Guideline”)20; Online Trial Norms of Hangzhou Internet Court21; Notice Regarding the Parties’ Rights and Duties and The Trial Procedure of the Litigation Platform of Hangzhou Internet Court22; Trial Procedure23. All these will be thebasisfortheupcomingillustrationastotheoperationprocedureofHangzhouInternetCourt.

Jurisdiction

Accordingtoarticle2oftheJudicialInterpretationofInternetCourts,theInternetcourtsinBeijing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou shall have centralizedjurisdictionoverthefollowingcasesthatthebasic people’s courts shall accept within the jurisdiction in their respective cities as courts of the first instance:

1. Disputes arising from the signing or performance of online shopping contracts through e-com- merceplatforms.

2. Disputes over the network service contracts, which are both signed and performed ontheInternet.

3. Disputes over the financial loan contracts or small loan contracts which are both signed and performedontheInternet.

4. Disputes over the ownership of the copyrights or neighboring rights of the works published ontheInternetforthefirsttime.

5. Disputes arising from infringements upon the copyrights or neighboring rights of the works publishedordisseminatedonlinethroughtheInternet.

6.DisputesoverInternetdomainnameownership,infringements,andcontracts.

17Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Wangluo Anquan Fa ( ) [Cyber security law of the people’s Republic of China] (promulgated by the Standing Comm. Nat’l People’s Cong., Nov. 07, 2016, effective Jun. 01, 2017), StandingComm.Nat’lPeople’sCong.Gaz.899 (China).

18SpecificrulesconcerningtrialprocedureofBeijingInternetCourt(BeijingInternetCourt.(n.d.).Guidelineontrialprocedure. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://www.bjinternetcourt.gov.cn/cgi/PreActionfindAllMore.htm?cid=1023 ). For Guangzhou Internet Court (Guangzhou Internet Court. Guideline on trial procedure. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://ols.gzinternetcourt.gov.cn/portal/main/domain/lassen.htm#lassen/guangzhou/litigationDocuments).

19Hangzhou Hulianwang Fayuan Wangshang Tingshen Tigang ( ) [The outline of online court trial] (promulgated by the Hangzhou Internet Court, May 31, 2018), https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/portal/indexRpc/ viewProcedure.json?fileIdStr=Jyy6J9MzXT1qrGvqszI-2g (China).

20Hangzhou Hulianwang Fayuan Guanxia Zhiyin ( ) [Hangzhou Internet Court’s guidelines regardingthelitigationandjurisdictionofInternet-involvedcases](promulgatedbytheHangzhouInternetCourt,May31, 2018),https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/portal/indexRpc/viewProcedure.json?fileIdStr=qlHvqgIAbUzTbImtgxCDPg(China).

21Hangzhou Hulianwang Fyuan Wangshang Tingshen Guifan ( ) [Online trial norms of Hangzhou Internet Court] (promulgated by the Hangzhou Internet Court, May 31, 2018), https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/ portal/indexRpc/viewProcedure.json?fileIdStr=W6gvwJ4pHKKk-NG8memd8w (China).

22HangzhouHulianwangFayuanDangshirenQuanliYiwuGaozhishu( )[Notice regarding the parties’ rights and duties and the trial procedure of the Litigation Platform of Hangzhou Internet Court] (promulgated by the Hangzhou Internet Court, May 31, 2018), https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/portal/indexRpc/viewProcedure.json?fileIdStr=GF4xuySAVK96BwS_J00lRA (China).

23Supra,n.10.

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