Relief options for third parties affected by court judgments

Q: How should matters be handled when an effective judgment or ruling of a court harms the interests of a third party?

A: Such a third party can seek relief either by lodging an opposition to enforcement or instituting a third-party action to quash the judgment or ruling.

Q: What are the conditions and the review procedures for lodging an opposition to enforcement?

A: The circumstances have mainly been of the following three types: 1) an objection lodged in a situation where a third party reckons that ownership of the subject matter on which the effective judgment or ruling has a bearing does not belong to any party to the original judgment or ruling, rather to the third party; 2) an objection lodged in a situation where a subject matter unconnected to the judgment or ruling is, in the course of enforcement, treated as a subject matter of enforcement, and enforcement is carried out thereon; and 3) an objection lodged where it is sensed that the act of enforcement will affect one’s right to use the subject matter of enforcement. The situation that corresponds to the lodging of an opposition to enforcement where a third party is injured by an effective judgment or ruling is the first above.

Pursuant to article 227 of the Civil Procedure Law, if, in the course of enforcement, a party not involved in the case files a written objection in respect of the subject matter of enforcement, the people’s court will conduct a review within 15 days from the date of receipt of the written objection, and will rule to suspend enforcement against the subject provided that the grounds are tenable.

If the grounds are untenable, it will rule to dismiss the objection. If the party not involved in the case, or a concerned party, is dissatisfied with the ruling, being of the opinion that the original ruling was erroneous, matters will be handled in accordance with the procedure for the monitoring of trials. If the dissatisfaction of the party not involved in the case or the concerned party is unrelated to the original ruling, the party may institute a legal action in a people’s court within 15 days from the date of service of the ruling.

Gao Ping and He Yu are partners at AnJie Law Firm