Insights

Ningbo People's Mediation Agreement has been judicially confirmed and can it be directly enforced?

Ningbo Author：LuXu WANG

Let me state the conclusion first. Mediation agreements reached under the auspices of people’s mediation committees, as well as those reached by people’s mediation committees established in accordance with law within village committees and residents’ committees, administrative organs, and other mediation organizations duly established by law, are themselves merely documents of a contractual nature. If the other party goes back on their word, you cannot take the agreement directly to court and apply for compulsory enforcement. However, when both parties jointly apply to the people's court for judicial confirmation within 30 days from the effective date of the mediation agreement, and the court makes a confirmation ruling after review, the agreement will be "upgraded" to an enforceable ruling-if one party refuses to perform or fails to perform in full, the other party can directly apply to the court for enforcement, without having to fight another lawsuit.

In other words, the key to the problem lies not in the word "mediation", but in the word "judicial confirmation", and two hard conditions that are often ignored-the joint application of both parties within 30 days. If the deadline is missed, or only one party is willing to apply, judicial confirmation will not work and will have to return to the litigation track.

1. three types of "mediation" have completely different effects

In family disputes, “mediation” can refer to at least three distinct concepts, each with vastly different legal effects; conflating them is often the root cause of many parties’ later grievances.

  • A people’s mediation agreement has only the force of a contract. Article 31 of the People's Mediation Law stipulates that the mediation agreement reached through the mediation of the People's Mediation Committee is legally binding, and the parties shall perform it in accordance with the agreement. But "legally binding" does not mean "enforcement". The so-called legal binding force means that this agreement is valid between the two parties and should be observed; but it is not the basis for enforcement, and the court cannot seize, freeze, or withhold the other party's property based on a mediation agreement.
  • The court mediation statement can be directly executed. After the dispute is sued to the court, an agreement is reached through mediation presided over by the court, and the Civil Mediation Letter is produced by the court, which has legal effect after being signed by both parties. If one party fails to perform, the other party may apply directly to the people's court for compulsory execution with a mediation letter. The knowledge base in the "Li and Sun a marriage contract property dispute first instance civil mediation" is a typical sample: the court confirmed that the agreement is legal and valid, the parties refused to sign the mediation agreement does not affect the validity of the agreement, one party does not perform, the other party may hold the mediation agreement to apply for enforcement.
  • Judicial confirmation ruling can also be directly executed. After the two parties reach an agreement under the auspices of the people's mediation committee and other mediation organizations, they will apply to the people's court for judicial confirmation. If the court considers that it conforms to the law, it will rule that the mediation agreement is valid. This paper ruling becomes the basis for enforcement and is equivalent in effect to the effective adjudication instrument.

The difference between the three is the most practical sentence: can you apply for enforcement directly. People's mediation agreement can not, court mediation can, judicial confirmation ruling can also. Therefore, after a family dispute is “settled” at the stage of people’s mediation, what ultimately determines whether the agreement in your hands has legal enforceability is whether the subsequent step of judicial confirmation is completed.

Two hard conditions for judicial confirmation of 2.: within 30 days, both parties jointly apply

Article 33 of the People's Mediation Law makes it clear that after the mediation agreement is reached through the mediation of the People's Mediation Committee, if both parties consider it necessary, they may jointly apply to the People's Court for judicial confirmation within 30 days from the effective date of the mediation agreement, and the People's Court shall promptly examine the mediation agreement and confirm the validity of the mediation agreement in accordance with the law. Article 205 of the Civil Procedure Law (the serial number of the amendment in 2021 is Article 201, and the serial number will be postponed after the amendment in 2023) makes the same arrangement and refines the jurisdiction rules. Take two conditions apart.

First, time: within 30 days from the effective date of the mediation agreement. 30 days is the application period, and the starting point is "the effective date of the mediation agreement", not "the expiration date of the performance period", nor "the date of the other party's first breach of contract". The effective rules of the people's mediation agreement are: the written mediation agreement shall take effect from the date on which the parties sign, seal or press the fingerprint, and the people's mediator signs and seals the people's mediation committee; the oral mediation agreement shall take effect from the date on which the parties reach an agreement. In other words, on the day of signing and sealing, the calculation of

30days should begin.

Second, subject: both parties apply together. The judicial confirmation confirms "the mutual agreement reached by both parties", which requires both parties to apply together in principle. If only one party applies unilaterally and the other party does not cooperate, the court usually cannot accept it, or it is necessary to notify the other party to be present and ask for its opinion. In practice, it is allowed to apply in person or by a qualified agent on behalf of the application; it may be applied in writing or orally, and the oral application shall be recorded by the court and signed, stamped or sealed by the parties.

In these two conditions, the most likely problem is "30 days". It is a relatively compact window period, once missed, the judicial confirmation of the road will not go through. Therefore, if the mediation judges on the spot that the other party has the risk of going back on its word or involves a large amount of money, it is safer to prepare the materials as soon as possible after the mediation is reached, and ask the other party to go to court together without delay.

3. where to apply and what to pay

Judicial confirmation is a special procedure, which is under the jurisdiction of the people's court, but the jurisdiction court is particular about it. Article 205 of the Civil procedure Law lists three situations: if the people's court invites a mediation organization to carry out mediation in advance, it shall be submitted to the people's court that made the invitation; if the mediation organization carries out mediation on its own, it shall be submitted to the grass-roots people's court where the party's domicile, the subject matter and the mediation organization are located; if the dispute involved in the mediation agreement should be under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's court, it shall be submitted to the corresponding intermediate people's court.

For the vast majority of family disputes, it is the second way: to the basic people's court where the mediation organization is located, where the parties live or where the subject matter is located. If mediation is jointly participated by two or more mediation organizations, the basic court where each mediation organization is located has jurisdiction, and both parties can jointly choose one of them to file an application; if both parties apply to two or more courts with jurisdiction, the court that first files the case shall have jurisdiction.

For materials, the following shall be submitted:

  • Application for Judicial Confirmation;
  • Mediation agreement (if an oral agreement is reached, it should also submit the valid records produced by the mediation organization that can prove that the mediation agreement has been reached);
  • Proof of mediation by mediation organization;
  • Basic information such as identification, domicile and contact information of both parties;
  • Proof of property rights and other materials related to the mediation agreement, such as property, vehicles, deposits, equity and other certificates of ownership or value;
  • If you entrust others to apply on your behalf, you must also submit a power of attorney signed or sealed by the client.

If the materials are incomplete, the court will inform them once and submit them within a time limit; if they fail to supplement or refuse to accept the inquiry without justifiable reasons, they can be treated as withdrawal application. It should be noted that the people's court does not charge fees for judicial confirmation cases, which is also an obvious advantage over litigation.

What the 4. Court reviews

After accepting the application for judicial confirmation, the court does not "seal according to the order", but should examine it. Article 206 of the Civil procedure Law stipulates that after accepting an application, the people's court shall, after examination, rule that the mediation agreement is valid if it meets the provisions of the law; if it does not meet the provisions of the law, it shall rule to reject the application. The review is broadly divided into two levels.

The first is the level of form and procedure. The court will notify both parties to be present together to verify the situation; if it considers that the statements or supporting materials provided by the parties are insufficient, incomplete or doubtful, it may require supplementary statements or supplementary supporting materials within a time limit, and if necessary, it will also verify the relevant situation with the mediation organization. For cases where the parties are close relationships such as husband and wife, relatives and friends, or related enterprises and other common interests, which are prone to false mediation, the court will often strengthen the substantive examination.

The second is the physical element. After review, if the mediation agreement has one of the following circumstances, the court shall rule to reject the application: violation of the mandatory provisions of the law; damage to the national interest, social public interest, and the legitimate rights and interests of others; violation of public order and good customs; violation of the principle of voluntariness; unclear content; and other situations that cannot be carried out Judicial confirmation. These key points essentially concretize the two bottom lines of "voluntary" and "legal"-whether the agreement is the true meaning of both parties, whether it has been coerced and cheated, whether the content has stepped on the red line of law and public interest, and whether the content of the payment is clear enough to be enforceable are all under review.

Therefore, if you want to pass the examination smoothly, the mediation agreement itself should be clearly written: who to whom, at what time, in what way, what property to pay, how much amount, and how to do after the deadline. Try not to leave vague expressions such as "appropriate compensation" and "separate negotiation"-"unclear content" will be rejected directly.

5. which agreements "cannot" be judicially confirmed

Judicial confirmation is not applicable to all mediation agreements. According to the provisions of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law on inadmissibility, if the parties apply for judicial confirmation of the mediation agreement, the people's court will rule that it will not be accepted under any of the following circumstances: it does not fall within the scope of acceptance of the people's court; it does not fall within the jurisdiction of the people's court receiving the application; the application for confirmation of the invalidity, validity or dissolution of the marital relationship, parent-child relationship, adoption relationship, etc; involving the application of other special procedures, public notice proceedings, bankruptcy proceedings.

Among them, the third item has the greatest impact on the family field. Why can't the identity relationship be confirmed? Because the validity or dissolution of the marriage relationship, parent-child relationship and adoption relationship not only affects the parties themselves, but also affects other social relations, which must be handled carefully and should be resolved through litigation or other legal means. For example, if the parties agree to dissolve the marriage relationship, they should go to the civil affairs department for divorce registration; if a mediation agreement is reached on the division of property after divorce, such property agreements can be applied for judicial confirmation.

Thus a practical line can be drawn: The part involving "identity" cannot be confirmed, while the part involving "property payment" can be confirmed. Compare common types of agreements in family disputes--

  • Agreement on the Return of Marriage-Related Property (including betrothal gifts, gold jewelry, etc.): This constitutes a dispute over property rights and may be subject to judicial confirmation;
  • Agreement on property division and compensation payment after divorce: you can apply for judicial confirmation;
  • Agreement on payment of alimony and alimony: it belongs to property payment and can apply for judicial confirmation;
  • Mediation agreement about the scope of inheritance, the proportion of division and the obligation of payment in the inheritance dispute: it belongs to the dispute of civil rights and interests, and can apply for judicial confirmation in principle (in practice, there are cases in which the mediation agreement of legal inheritance dispute is confirmed by the court); but if the content of the agreement is essentially defined as the "confirmation" of the ownership of real right, it will not be accepted according to the fifth item above;
  • Agreements to confirm whether the marriage relationship, parent-child relationship and adoption relationship are valid and whether they are dissolved: they cannot apply for judicial confirmation.

also need to remind one additional sentence: the identity issues such as the validity of marriage and adoption also belong to the identity relationship confirmation cases in the litigation. The case cannot be settled through mediation, but can only be confirmed by the court judgment. Therefore, such disputes should not be expected to be resolved by "people's mediation + judicial confirmation". The wrong procedure is wasted and time is wasted.

The effect after the confirmation of the 6.: the ruling becomes effective upon service, and the non-performance may apply for enforcement

After the mediation agreement is confirmed to be valid, the validity changes. The confirmation decision made by the court shall become legally effective as soon as it is served on the parties. Thereafter--

  • if one party refuses to perform or fails to perform in full, the other party can apply to the people's court for execution directly, and the execution content is limited to the payment obligation stated in the mediation agreement;
  • If a party re-sues for the same dispute, the people's court generally will not accept it, because the dispute has been resolved through the judicial confirmation procedure;
  • The confirmation ruling does not deprive the parties of their right to relief: if the parties have objections to the ruling, they can raise them within 15 days from the date of receiving the ruling; if the interested parties think that their rights and interests have been damaged, they can raise them within 6 months from the date when they know or should know that their rights and interests have been damaged.

From the "agreement without teeth" to the "ruling that can be seized and frozen", the judicial confirmation complements the link of enforcement power. Payment content (return of bride price, payment of maintenance, delivery of housing discount) once the other party default, there is no basis for execution, often to re-sue, re-proof, time and money costs are not small.

What if the 7. exceeds 30 days or one party does not cooperate

The two "life gates" of judicial confirmation-the 30-day deadline and the joint application of both parties-once stuck, what is the way out?

The first case, more than 30 days. The road of judicial confirmation is impassable, but please note that the mediation agreement itself is not invalidated. In accordance with Article 31 of the People’s Mediation Law, it remains legally binding, and the parties shall comply with it. If the other party fails to perform, you may, in accordance with Article 32, bring a lawsuit to the people's court over the performance of the mediation agreement or the contents of the mediation agreement, and request that the other party be ordered to perform according to the agreement. In other words, the agreement has reverted to the status of a mere “contract” and must be transformed into a court judgment through litigation before it can be enforced.

In the second case, one party does not cooperate and refuses to apply jointly. Judicial confirmation is based on agreement. If the other party does not cooperate, it is usually impossible to force forward. At this point, it is also back to the litigation track: you can sue over the mediation agreement, or you can sue directly over the original dispute.In litigation, the previously reached mediation agreement will serve as an important piece of evidence to prove that the other party has approved the relevant facts and payment arrangements.

There is another situation worth explaining: if the court decides to reject the application after examination, the parties can change the original mediation agreement or reach a new mediation agreement through mediation, and can also bring a lawsuit to the people's court. It can be seen that the rejection of judicial confirmation does not mean "ending here", it is just a different way.

8. practical suggestion: how to fix the results after the mediation of family disputes

Combined with the above rules, several actionable suggestions are given.

  • Mediation talks about "confirmation" on the spot. When an agreement is reached at the stage of people's mediation, it is best to agree at the same time: both parties agree to jointly apply for judicial confirmation within the legal time limit, and specify who will prepare the materials and when to go to the court together. Writing "joint application" into the mediation agreement can significantly reduce the probability of the other party not cooperating afterwards.
  • 30 days, don't delay. The time limit shall be calculated from the day the agreement is signed and sealed, and the court shall be reserved as soon as possible. People's mediation organizations are usually familiar with the process and can ask mediators to assist in preparing applications, mediation certificates and other materials.
  • Write the agreement clearly to "executable". the subject of payment, the subject of payment, the amount, the time, the method and the overdue liability should be made clear to avoid "unclear content" being rejected; if real estate, vehicles and deposits are involved, the ownership certificate should be prepared in advance.
  • Distinguish between “identity” and “property.” Anyone who wants to confirm or dissolve marriage, parent-child, adoption, do not go through judicial confirmation.
  • Judicial confirmation, notarization, and court mediation may be selected as needed. If the dispute has not been prosecuted, and both parties are willing to cooperate, judicial confirmation is free and fast, which is the first choice for fixed mediation results; if you are worried that the other party will have disputes over the authenticity of the documents and the payment content in the future, you can notarize the mediation agreement, and the notarized creditor's rights documents with enforcement effect can also be directly applied for enforcement, but notarization generally requires both parties to be present and some matters charge; if the dispute has entered into litigation, directly seeking the court to issue a mediation letter is the most effective and does not need to be confirmed separately. The three paths do not have to go at the same time, but can be chosen according to the stage of the dispute and the degree of coordination of the other party.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: If the people's mediation agreement is signed and the other party goes back on its word, can I directly apply for enforcement?No. A people’s mediation agreement has only the force of a contract and does not constitute an enforceable basis. To obtain enforcement, both parties must jointly apply for judicial confirmation within 30 days, or sue separately to obtain effective judgment documents.

Question 2: Must both parties be present for judicial confirmation?In principle, both parties must submit the application jointly. I am allowed to apply or by a qualified agent on my behalf, either in writing or orally; however, if only one party applies unilaterally and the other party does not agree, confirmation cannot usually be completed.

Question 3: Does judicial confirmation involve any fees? And approximately how long does it take?People’s courts do not charge any fees for handling judicial confirmation cases. After receiving the application, the court generally decides whether to accept it within three days, and after accepting it, it examines and makes a ruling on whether to confirm it; if both parties apply to the court at the same time and meet the conditions for confirmation, they may accept it immediately and make a decision.

Question 4: Can the division of property in divorce be fixed through judicial confirmation?Sure. As long as the mediation agreement is reached on the property content such as property division and compensation payment, it belongs to the scope of confirmation; However, if the marriage relationship itself is required to be confirmed or dissolved, it cannot be confirmed.

Question 5: Can the mediation agreement of the succession dispute be confirmed judicially? Agreements involving the scope of the estate, the proportion of division and the obligation of payment are civil rights disputes and can be applied for in principle; if the content of the agreement is essentially the confirmation of the ownership of the real right, or involves the confirmation of the identity relationship such as adoption and parent-child, it will not be accepted.

Question 6: Is the judicial confirmation rejected by the court for nothing?No. The parties may change the original mediation agreement or reach a new mediation agreement through mediation, or bring a suit in a people's court; the original mediation agreement still has contractual effect and can be used as evidence in litigation.

10. Practical Legal Insights

The success of mediation is not equal to getting a "executable" thing, which is the most common illusion in family mediation. The agreement reached under the auspices of the people's mediation organization is closer to a contract in nature. If the other party fails to perform, you can only sue separately. The mediation statement made by the court and the judicial confirmation ruling made by the court on the mediation agreement are the enforcement basis for direct application for enforcement. Therefore, before signing, think clearly: what you want is a verbal promise from the other party or a document that can be executed in the future. Different goals require entirely different paths and ways of thinking.

If you decide to pursue the path of people’s mediation, once the agreement is signed, you must ensure two strict conditions are met: within thirty days, both parties must jointly apply for judicial confirmation. The starting point of 30 days is the date of entry into force of the agreement, not the date of the expiration of the other party's performance period, let alone the date of the other party's first breach of contract. Many people only remember to complete this procedure after the other party has defaulted on their debt, by which time it is often already overdue. It is safe to prepare the application materials on the day of signing the agreement, ask the other party to go to the court, and regard the confirmation procedure as part of the agreement, rather than an additional item that can be done or not.

What if the other party doesn't cooperate with the judicial confirmation? Then this mediation agreement is just a contract to the outside, and your choice is to sue separately. At this time, the more convenient way is to ask the judge to preside over the mediation in the litigation, and directly make the court mediation statement, which is more effective. When talking, we can explain this layer thoroughly: judicial confirmation is convenient for both parties. if the other party resolutely does not cooperate, it often shows that he has no intention to perform it himself. instead of wasting it, it is better to switch to the track as early as possible. Treating the outcomes of the mediation phase as evidence and a benchmark in litigation means that all the discussions held beforehand were not in vain.

Back to the original question: The people's mediation agreement in Ningbo has been judicially confirmed, can it be directly enforced? The answer is-yes, but the premise is that the two hard conditions of "within 30 days, both parties apply together" are met at the same time, and the content of the agreement falls within the scope of confirmation (property payment is OK, identity relationship is not OK). Judicial confirmation upgrades the mediation agreement from "contract" to "execution basis", with low cost and fast procedures. It is a good tool for fixing the results of family disputes. However, it has clear boundaries and deadlines. Once missed, the agreement can only be "fulfilled" through litigation ". The most important things in practice are three things: sign the agreement as soon as possible, write the agreement clearly and enforceable, and hand over the identity problem to the correct procedures to solve.