The acceptance fee is revealed! If you request to confirm the validity of the contract, continue to perform or terminate the contract, how will the case acceptance fee be charged?- Zhiheng Law Firm

Author | Intellectual Property Center, Elephant Migration Team

(Original by the elephant migration team, welcome to share, please indicate the source when reprinting)

On January 1, 2024, the latest Civil Procedure Law as amended by the Fifth Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress came into force. Among them, Article 121 is the basic provision on the acceptance fee for parties' cases, and this amendment has not been adjusted.

The author found that in the cases handled in the past, the court may adopt a completely different way of calculating the case acceptance fee for the same lawsuit request made by the parties to "request confirmation of the invalidity of the contract".

After further research, the author found that the problem of differentiation of case acceptance fees has a long history. There have always been different views in judicial practice on how to charge for cases where the claim contains "confirming the validity of the contract, continuing to perform or rescinding the contract" and so on.

We can even see that the Supreme Court has also responded to the current situation of different practices in various places.

(Image source: screenshot of the official website of the Supreme Court)

So for such cases, what are the reasons for judicial practice that have led to so many controversies?

The author hopes that through this article, we can learn about the different judicial views and determination bases of local courts, so that you can further grasp the handling of relevant cases.

The first part, the case acceptance fee

Combined with the "Measures for Payment of Litigation Expenses" in our country and the content of the "Legal Interpretation and Questions and Answers - Civil Litigation Questions and Answers" section of the National People's Congress Network, the case acceptance fee refers to the plaintiff who files a lawsuit with the people's court, after review and meeting the conditions for prosecution, and after acceptance, the fee is paid in advance to the people's court in proportion to the price of each case or the disputed property [1].

From the stage point of view, the case acceptance fee is divided into the first instance case acceptance fee, the second instance case acceptance fee and the case acceptance fee that needs to be paid in the retrial case. The payment and determination of the case acceptance fee discussed in this paper are limited to the scope of the first instance case acceptance fee.

In terms of type, the case acceptance fee varies greatly according to the difference between property cases and non-property cases. But unfortunately, after the author explored the relevant provisions of our country's "Civil Procedure Law" and "Litigation Fee Payment Measures", he did not find an accurate definition and connotation of "property cases" and "non-property cases".

The current effective "Litigation Fee Payment Measures" list the calculation methods and ranges of case acceptance fees. For property cases, the case acceptance fees are accumulated in proportion according to the amount of the subject matter of different litigation claims; for non-property cases, there are also different charging methods based on the differences in different case types, property division/damage compensation amounts.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (2023 Amendment)

Article 121 A party involved in a civil lawsuit shall pay the case acceptance fee in accordance with regulations. In addition to the case acceptance fee for property cases, other litigation fees shall also be paid in accordance with regulations.

Where it is really difficult for a party to pay the litigation expenses, it may apply to the people's court for suspension, reduction or exemption of payment in accordance with the provisions.

Measures for collecting litigation fees shall be formulated separately.

"Measures for Payment of Litigation Expenses"

The litigation costs that the parties shall pay to the people's court include:

(A) the case acceptance fee;

(B) the application fee;

(3) transportation expenses, accommodation expenses, living expenses, and lost-time subsidies incurred by witnesses, experts, translators, and adjusters appearing in court on the date designated by the people's court.

Article 7 The case acceptance fee includes:

(A) the first instance case acceptance fee;

(2) the acceptance fee for the second instance case;

(3) In the retrial case, the case acceptance fee that needs to be paid in accordance with the provisions of these Measures.

Article 13 The case acceptance fee shall be paid according to the following standards:

(1) Property cases shall be paid cumulatively according to the amount or price claimed in the lawsuit according to the following proportions:

1. If it does not exceed 10,000 yuan, pay 50 yuan for each piece;

2. The part exceeding 10,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan shall be paid at 2.5%;

3. The part exceeding 100,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan shall be paid at 2%;

4. The part exceeding 200,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan shall be paid at 1.5%;

5. The part exceeding 500,000 yuan to 1 million yuan shall be paid at 1%;

6. The part exceeding 1 million yuan to 2 million yuan shall be paid at 0.9%;

7. The part exceeding 2 million yuan to 5 million yuan shall be paid at 0.8%;

8. The part exceeding 5 million yuan to 10 million yuan shall be paid at 0.7%;

9. The part exceeding 10 million yuan to 20 million yuan shall be paid at 0.6%;

10. The part exceeding 20 million yuan shall be paid at 0.5%.

(2) Non-property cases shall be paid according to the following standards:

1. Divorce cases each pay 50 to 300 yuan. Involving the division of property, the total amount of property does not exceed 200,000 yuan, no separate payment; the part exceeding 200,000 yuan, according to 0.5%.

2. In cases of infringement of the right to name, name, portrait, reputation, honor and other personal rights, 100 yuan to 500 yuan shall be paid for each case. Involving damages, if the amount of compensation does not exceed 50,000 yuan, no separate payment shall be made; the part exceeding 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan shall be paid at 1%; the part exceeding 100,0

00yuan shall be paid at 0.5%.

3. Other non-property cases will be paid between $50 and $100 per item.

(3) For intellectual property civil cases, if there is no disputed amount or price, 500 to 1,000 yuan shall be paid for each piece; if there is a disputed amount or price, it shall be paid in accordance with the standards of property cases.

(4) 10 yuan for each labor dispute case.

(5) Administrative cases shall be submitted in accordance with the following standards:

100 yuan for each trademark, patent, and maritime administrative case.

2. 50 yuan per case for other administrative cases.

(6) If the parties raise an objection to the jurisdiction of the case, and the objection is not established, they shall pay 50 yuan to 100 yuan for each case.

The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate specific payment standards within the scope specified in Items (2), (3) and (6) of this Article in light of local actual conditions.

Referring to the "Instructions on Litigation Fees" on the official website of the Supreme People's Court [2], the case acceptance fees for property cases and non-property cases can be directly calculated according to the following tables (ie Table 1 and Table 2):

(Table 1)

(Table 2)

The second part requests confirmation of the validity of the contract, continued performance or termination of the contract case acceptance fee collection standard

I. Calculation of the acceptance fee for cases requesting confirmation of the validity/invalidity of the contract

Scenario one

If there is only a "request to confirm the validity/invalidity of the contract" lawsuit, there are two more mainstream views in current judicial practice, which are mainly elaborated as follows:

[Judicial point of view 1 (more mainstream) ] Take the contract amount as the subject matter of the case litigation, and charge the case acceptance fee according to the property case standard.

The courts and judges who hold the above views mainly consider the following aspects: Although the dispute over the validity of the contract is a lawsuit for confirmation rather than payment in civil litigation, the lawsuit for confirmation of the contract and the lawsuit for payment are classified by the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, which is different from the case classification standards stipulated in Article 13 of the Measures for Payment of Litigation Costs; if the contract requested by the parties has the content of property payment, it belongs to the category of property cases, and the case acceptance fee shall be charged according to the standard of property cases.

The current effective "Measures for the Payment of Litigation Expenses" and the 2014 "Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" and the 2017 "Answers to Several Issues of the Chongqing Higher People's Court on Civil Litigation Jurisdiction" all confirm the above views.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

"Measures for Payment of Litigation Expenses"

Article 13 The case acceptance fee shall be paid according to the following standards:

(1) Property cases shall be paid cumulatively according to the amount or price claimed in the lawsuit according to the following proportions:

......

(2) Non-property cases shall be paid according to the following standards:

......

"Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" (Jinggao Fa Fa [2014] No. 450)

If a party's litigation request is only to confirm the validity of the contract, continue to perform the contract, or modify, rescind, or cancel the contract, the total amount of the contract object shall be used as the subject matter of the litigation claim, and the level of jurisdiction shall be determined and the case acceptance fee shall be charged. Where a party requests to confirm the validity of part of the contract terms, continue to perform part of the contractual obligations, or modify or rescind part of the contract terms, the amount of the contract subject matter involved in the litigation claim shall be used as the subject matter of the litigation claim, and the level of jurisdiction shall be determined and the case acceptance fee shall

"Answers of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing Municipality on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation" (Yu Gao Law [2017] No. 256)

10. How to determine the level of jurisdiction for cases requiring confirmation of contract validity or modification, revocation, or rescission of contract?

Answer: For a contract with property content, if the parties sue to confirm the validity of the contract or modify the contract, cancel the contract, or cancel the contract, the subject matter of the contract shall be the subject matter of the case litigation, and the case level jurisdiction shall be determined accordingly. Where the parties request to confirm the validity of part of the contract terms, continue to perform part of the contractual obligations, or modify or revoke part of the contract terms, the subject matter of the contract involved in the litigation request shall be the subject matter of the case litigation, and the case level jurisdiction shall be determined accordingly.

If the contract has no target amount, it shall be under the jurisdiction of the basic people's court.

At the same time, we can see that there are many cases in judicial practice that hold this view.

judicial case

Case 1: Jiangsu Guojing Group sued Southwest University of Science and Technology to confirm the contract invalidity dispute

The Supreme People's Court

[Case No.] (2018) Supreme Court Minshen No. 2652

[Nature of document] Ruling

[Judgment's Viewpoint] Regarding the collection and burden of litigation fees, this case is a case of dispute over confirmation of contract invalidity, which belongs to contract disputes, and has property payment content, which is still a property case. The original judgment charged the case acceptance fee according to the standard of property cases, and ordered the City College of Western University of Science and Technology to bear the full case acceptance fee on the basis of finding that the contract is invalid, which does not violate the provisions of the "Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees".

Case 2: Shenyang Shimao Company v. Beijing Urban Construction Company for construction contract disputes

[Magistracy] Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China

[Case number] (2021) Supreme Court Civil Final No. 695

[Nature of document] court verdict

[Plaintiff's Claim] 1. Confirm the "Construction Engineering Contract" (hereinafter referred to as the "Construction Contract") and all supplementary agreements and accessories to the contract signed between Shenyang Shimao Company and Beijing Urban Construction Company for the general contracting project of T3-T5 and S3 floors of Shenyang Shimao Wulihe Commercial Plaza (hereinafter referred to as the "Construction Contract"); 2. Order Beijing Urban Construction Company to immediately withdraw from the construction site involved in the case and return the site to Shenyang Shimao Company for possession and use; 3. Order Beijing Urban Construction Company to immediately hand over all construction materials such as the construction files of the project involved in the case to Shenyang Shimao Company; 4. Order Beijing Urban Construction Company to bear all litigation costs in this case.

[Content of the Judgment] 1. Revoke the civil judgment of Liaoning Higher People's Court (2018) No. 46 of Liao Minchu; 2. Amend the judgment to reject all claims of Shenyang Shimao New Century Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. 1. The acceptance fee for the second-instance case is 416,484 yuan each, all of which are borne by Shenyang Shimao New Century Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. This judgment is a final judgment.

[Case Analysis] For the plaintiff Shenyang Shimao Company's request to confirm the invalidity of the contract involved in the case and all supplementary agreements and attachments to the contract, the Supreme Court rejected the final judgment. It can be seen from the court's judgment that "the acceptance fee for the first and second round Moderation cases is 416,484 yuan each, all borne by Shenyang Shimao New Century Real Estate Development Co., Ltd." It can be seen that for the litigation request of the parties to confirm the invalidity of the contract, the court calculates and charges the case acceptance fee according to the property case standard.

Case 3: Guangzhou ******* Company v. Jianpeng Property Company and Meiyuan Community Owners Committee to confirm the contract

[Magistrates' Court] Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, Guangdong Province

[Case number] (2023) Guangdong 01 Minjian No. 26699

[Nature of document] court verdict

[Plaintiff's Claim] 1. Confirm that the "non-residential property types (including commercial properties, garages, etc.): 8 yuan/square meter/month" in Article 3 of the "Meiyuan Community Property Management Service Contract" signed by Meiyuan Industry Committee and Jianpeng Property Company is invalid; 2. Meiyuan Industry Committee and Jianpeng Property Company bear the litigation costs of this case.

[Content of the Judgment] 1. Revocation of the civil judgment of the People's Court of Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province (2023) Guangdong 0111 Minchu No. 13021; 2. Confirmation of the "Non-residential property types (including commercial properties, garages, etc.): 8 yuan/square meter/month" in Article 3 of the "Meiyuan Community Property Management Service Contract" signed by the First Owners Committee of Meiyuan Community and Guangzhou Jianpeng Property Management Co., Ltd. on December 30, 20

21is invalid.

The first-instance case acceptance fee of 4081.46 yuan was jointly borne by the first owners' committee of Meiyuan Community and Guangzhou Jianpeng Property Management Co., Ltd.; the second-instance case acceptance fee of 8162.92 yuan was jointly borne by the first owners' committee of Meiyuan Community and Guangzhou Jianpeng Property Management Co., Ltd.

[Case Analysis] For the plaintiff ******* Company's request to confirm the invalidity of the contract terms involved in the case, the Guangzhou Intermediate Court finally ruled in favor of the plaintiff's claim, ruling from the court that "the first-instance case acceptance fee of 4081.46 yuan was jointly borne by the first owners' committee of Meiyuan Community and Guangzhou Jianpeng Property Management Co., Ltd.; the second-instance case acceptance fee of 8162.92 yuan was jointly borne by the first owners' committee of Meiyuan Community and Guangzhou Jianpeng Property Management Co., Ltd." It can be seen that for the parties' request to confirm the invalidity of the contract, the Guangzhou Intermediate Court calculated and collected the case according to the property case standard.

After the Supreme Court made the (2018) Supreme Court Civil Application No. 2652 civil ruling, this view became a more mainstream judgment, and many courts followed this view for the determination of case acceptance fees for disputes over contract validity.

[Judicial Point of View 2] The acceptance fee will be charged on a case-by-case basis according to the standard of non-property cases, 50-100 yuan.

However, there are other ways to determine in practice, such as courts in Shandong, Hubei, Tianjin and other places, which tend to charge acceptance fees for such cases according to the standard of non-property cases. Courts or judges who hold this view believe that although the contents of the contract involve the content of property payment, the parties' claims do not involve the content of property payment, and the amount and price that are not in dispute are only to determine the validity of the contract, which are non-property claims, and should be charged according to the standard of non-property cases.

The above views are confirmed in the civil court verdict of Shandong Jinan Intermediate Court (2019) Lu 01 Minzhan No. 9881 and the Tianjin High Court's "Guiding Opinions on Further Regulating the Collection Standards of Litigation Fees (Trial) ".

It is worth noting that although the Tianjin Higher People's Court stipulated in the "Guiding Opinions on Further Regulating the Collection Standards for Litigation Fees (Trial) " that cases of disputes over the confirmation of contract validity should be governed by the determination level of the total contract amount, the charging standards for such cases clearly state that fees should be charged in accordance with non-property cases.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

"Measures for Payment of Litigation Expenses"

Article 13 The case acceptance fee shall be paid according to the following standards:

(1) Property cases shall be paid cumulatively according to the amount or price claimed in the lawsuit according to the following proportions...

(2) Non-property cases shall be paid according to the following standards... 3. Other non-property cases shall be paid between 50 yuan and 100 yuan per case.

"Guiding Opinions of Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collection of Litigation Fees (for Trial Implementation) " (Jingao Fa Fa [2014] No. 9)

Confirm cases of disputes over the validity of contracts, determine the level of jurisdiction according to the total amount of the contract, and charge fees according to non-property cases.

Only if the parties request confirmation of the validity of the contract can the cause of action be determined as a dispute over confirmation of the validity of the contract. If there are other litigation claims while requesting confirmation of the validity of the contract, the cause of action shall be determined and charged according to the specific contractual legal relationship.

The following cases demonstrate this view:

judicial case

Case 1: Meng Xiangheng v. Hou Jiapeng Confirmation of Contract Validity Dispute Case

[Magistrate's Court] Jinan City Intermediate People's Court, Shandong Province

[Case number] (2019) Lu 01 Minzhan No. 9881

[Nature of document] Civil court verdict

[Judgment point of view] According to the "Measures for the Payment of Litigation Expenses", "Article 13 Case acceptance fees shall be paid according to the following standards: (2) Non-property cases shall be paid according to the following standards: 3. Other non-property cases shall be paid 50 yuan to 100 yuan per case." This case is a dispute over confirming the validity of the contract. Although the contents of the contract involve the content of property payment, the parties' litigation claims do not involve the content of property payment. Only to determine the validity of the contract or only to modify, cancel or cancel the contract, fees shall be charged on a case-by-case basis.

Therefore, the litigation fee in this case should be charged at 100 yuan, and this court will adjust it.

Case 2: Wang Wei v. Xiong Shengqiang Confirmation of Invalidation of Contract

[Magistrate's Court] Intermediate People's Court of Wuhan City, Hubei Province

[Case number] (2022) Hubei 01 Minjian No. 14151

[Nature of document] court verdict

[Plaintiff's Claim] 1. The judgment confirms that the "Wuhan City Inventory Housing Sales Contract" signed by Wang Wei, Duan Gongming and Xiong Shengqiang on October 18, 2010 regarding the houses in the × × Floor × Room, Unit × ×, Building × ×, No. × ×, × × Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan City is invalid; 2. The judgment is that Xiong Shengqiang assisted in the transfer registration of the houses in the × Floor × Room, Building × ×, No. ×, × ×, × × Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan City to Wang Wei and Duan Gongming; 3. The litigation costs in this case shall be borne by Xiong Shengqiang and Xiong Xuxi.

[Content of the Judgment] 1. The "Wuhan Stock Housing Sales Contract" signed by Wang Wei, Duan Gongming and Xiong Shengqiang is invalid. 2. Wuhan Hanyang Sub-branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China joint stock company of Wuhan shall immediately handle the mortgage registration of the house located in the × × floor × × room of the × × building, × × No. × × × × × × Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan after Wang Wei and Duan Gongming have repaid the balance of the bank loan of 144136.

95yuan.

3. Xiong Shengqiang shall return to Wang Wei and Duan Gongming the house located in the house located on the × floor of the × × Unit, × × Building, × ×, × × No. × Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan within ten days after the judgment takes effect. The first-instance case acceptance fee for this case is 80 yuan, which is halved and charged 40 yuan, which shall be borne by Xiong Shengqiang.

[Case Analysis] For the plaintiff Wang Wei's request to confirm the contract involved in the case, the court's judgment was invalid. From the court verdict, "The acceptance fee for the first-instance case in this case is 80 yuan, and the half will be charged 40 yuan, which will be borne by Xiong Shengqiang." It can be seen that the Wuhan Intermediate Court calculated and charged the acceptance fee for this case according to the non-property case.

In the second situation, if the litigation request not only requires confirmation of the validity/invalidity of the contract, but also proposes property claims such as return of property and compensation for losses, judicial practice also has different views.

[Judicial Point of View 1 (More Mainstream) ] Charge a case acceptance fee according to the higher amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit.

Courts and judges who hold this view mainly consider the following aspects: confirming that the contract validity dispute case is based on the entire contract as the subject matter of litigation, and the litigation claim will necessarily have legal effects on the subject matter of the contract. Therefore, the litigation claim is also a property litigation claim, and the amount of the subject matter of the contract or the amount of property value involved in the contract should be the subject matter of the litigation, and the acceptance fee should be calculated accordingly.

If the parties simultaneously file other claims for the return of property, payment of liquidated damages, compensation, etc., in order to avoid double counting the amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit, the case acceptance fee shall be charged according to the higher amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit.

The "Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" and the "Answers to Several Questions of the Chongqing Higher People's Court on the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation" both responded to the parties' requests to confirm the validity of the contract and to return property, pay liquidated damages, and compensate for losses.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

"Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" (Jinggao Fa Fa [2014] No. 450)

Where a party simultaneously requests confirmation of the validity of the contract or modification, rescission, or revocation of the contract, but also makes other claims for the return of property, payment of liquidated damages, compensation for losses, etc., it shall determine the level of jurisdiction according to the higher amount of the subject matter of the claim and charge a case acceptance fee.

"Answers of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing Municipality on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation" (Yu Gao Law [2017] No. 256)

Where a party files a request for payment such as return of property, continued performance, compensation for losses, or payment of liquidated damages while suing for confirmation of the validity of the contract or modification, revocation, or rescission of the contract, the higher the amount of the contract and the amount of the request for payment shall be the subject of litigation in the case, and the case level jurisdiction shall be determined accordingly.

The author also found cases that were judged from this perspective:

judicial case

Case: Yin Dong v. Liu Long Confirmation of Contract Invalidity Dispute

[Magistrate's Court] Chongqing Fifth Intermediate People's Court

[Case number] (2018) Yu 05 Minchu No. 3700

[Nature of document] court verdict

[Plaintiff's Claim] 1. Confirm that the "Effective Court Verdict Debt Assignment Agreement" signed by Liu Long and Youcheng Company on May 26, 2017 is invalid. 2. Youcheng Company will return to Yin Dong, Chen Sijie, Shi Zhongliang and Li Yong the benefits of the "Effective Court Verdict Debt Assignment Agreement" 23 million yuan and interest (based on 23 million yuan, according to the loan interest rate of the People's Bank of China for the same period from May 26, 20

17until the payment is made).

3. The litigation costs in this case shall be borne by all the defendants.

[Content of the judgment] The claims of the plaintiffs Yin Dong, Chen Sijie, Shi Zhongliang and Li Yong were rejected. The case acceptance fee in this case was 16453.72 yuan, and the insurance fee was 5,000 yuan, which was borne by Yin Dong, Chen Sijie, Shi Zhongliang and Li Yong

[Case Analysis] The plaintiff in this case requested to confirm the invalidity of the agreement involved in the case and proposed to return the property at the same time. According to the formula for calculating the litigation costs of property cases determined by the "Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees", the Chongqing Intermediate Court calculated the case acceptance fee according to the amount of the contract object and the higher amount of the request for payment, which corresponds to the 2017 "Answers of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing on Several Issues Concerning Civil Litigation Jurisdiction".

After calculating the amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit according to the specific property claims involving the content of property payment, the case acceptance fee will be charged according to the property case standard.

This view is generally based on the aforementioned view that "acceptance fees should be charged according to the standard of non-property cases for cases that only request confirmation of the validity of the contract." According to Article 201 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's High Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, it is held that if a party requests confirmation of the validity of the contract, and also proposes property claims such as return of property and compensation for losses, the subject amount shall be calculated only on the basis of property claims, and the acceptance fee shall be calculated accordingly.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (Legal Interpretation [2022] No. 11)

Article 201: Where there are both property claims and non-property claims, legal fees shall be paid in accordance with the standards for property claims.

"Guiding Opinions of Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collection of Litigation Fees (for Trial Implementation) " (Jingao Fa Fa [2014] No. 9)

Confirm cases of disputes over the validity of contracts, determine the level of jurisdiction according to the total amount of the contract, and charge fees according to non-property cases.

II. Calculation of the case acceptance fee for requesting continued performance/termination of the contract

(1) Request for "continued performance of the contract"

There is little controversy in judicial practice about the parties' request to "continue to perform the contract". The mainstream view holds that this litigation request should be regarded as a disposition of the property related to the contract, and the amount of the subject matter of the case should be determined according to the contract amount; if other property claims are made at the same time, the amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit should be calculated according to multiple property claims, and the case acceptance fee will be charged.

The main reason is that for contracts with property content, when the court hears the parties' claims for continued performance and makes corresponding judgments, it necessarily involves the disposition of the contracted property; for example, in a contract for the sale of goods, whether the seller is required to continue to perform the delivery obligation or the buyer to perform the payment obligation, the disposition of the property will be involved.

Therefore, "continuing to perform the contract" is generally regarded as a property claim, and the case acceptance fee is charged according to the property case standard.

Whether it is the "Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees", the Answers of the Chongqing Higher People's Court on Several Questions about the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation, the Guiding Opinions of the Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collecting Litigation Fees (Trial), or the guiding opinions issued by the High Courts, all confirm this content. There are few disputes about this in various places.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (Legal Interpretation [2022] No. 11)

Article 201: Where there are both property claims and non-property claims, legal fees shall be paid in accordance with the standards for property claims. If there are multiple property claims, the legal fees shall be calculated and paid together; if there are multiple non-property claims in the claims, the legal fees shall be paid as one piece.

"Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" (Jinggao Fa Fa [2014] No. 450)

Where a party requests to continue to perform the contract, the amount of the contract subject matter involved in the litigation claim shall be added to the amount of other claims as the subject matter of the litigation claim, and the level of jurisdiction shall be determined and the case acceptance fee shall be charged.

"Answers of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing Municipality on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation" (Yu Gao Law [2017] No. 256)

10. How to determine the level of jurisdiction for cases requiring confirmation of contract validity or modification, revocation, or rescission of contract?

If the contract has no target amount, it shall be under the jurisdiction of the basic people's court.

"Guiding Opinions of Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collection of Litigation Fees (for Trial Implementation) " (Jingao Fa Fa [2014] No. 9)

If a party requests to continue to perform the contract, part of the amount requested for continued performance plus other claims shall be taken as the subject matter of the lawsuit, and the level of jurisdiction and fees shall be determined accordingly.

Let's take a look at a judicial case:

judicial case

Case: Bolei Fuxing Kindergarten v. Zhongchuangrong Trading Company for a housing lease contract dispute

[Magistrate's Court] Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province

[Case number] (2020) Guangdong 03 Minchu No. 6221

[Nature of document] court verdict

[Plaintiff's Claim] 1. To revoke the "Notice No. 4 of Zhongchuangrong Piaoguanzi (2020) " made by the defendant according to law; 2. The lease contract between the plaintiff and the defendant will continue to be performed until March 31, 2030 (the total rent during the period is 9629280 yuan); 3. Order the defendant to bear all the litigation costs of this case.

During the trial, the plaintiff Bolei Kindergarten made the claim clear as follows: Request the defendant Shenzhen Zhongchuangrong Trading Co., Ltd. to continue to perform the housing lease agreement signed by the four parties in 2014.

[Content of the Judgment] The plaintiff, Bolei Fuxing Kindergarten, Futian District, Shenzhen, and the defendant, Shenzhen Zhongchuangrong Trading Co., Ltd. shall continue to perform the "House Rental Agreement" signed on October 16, 2014. The case acceptance fee of RMB 79,204.96 was borne by the defendant, Shenzhen Zhongchuangrong Trading Co., Ltd.

The plaintiff, Bolei Fuxing Kindergarten in Futian District, Shenzhen, has paid 79,204.96 yuan in advance, and this court will return it. The defendant, Shenzhen Zhongchuangrong Trading Co., Ltd., shall pay the case acceptance fee of 79,204.96 yuan to this court within ten days from the effective date of this judgment. If it refuses to pay, this court will enforce it according to law.

[Case Analysis] The plaintiff in this case, Fuxing Kindergarten, requested the defendant to continue to perform the agreement involved in the case, and the Shenzhen Intermediate Court's judgment continued to be performed. It can be seen from the content of the court's judgment that the court calculated and charged the case acceptance fee according to the standard of property cases.

(2) Request for "termination of the contract"

Scenario 1: If there is only a "request to rescind the contract" lawsuit, there are two mainstream views in current judicial practice, which are mainly elaborated as follows:

[Judicial point of view 1 (more mainstream) ] Determine the subject matter of the case by the contract amount.

The courts and judges who hold the above views mainly consider from the following aspects: whether it is a claim for rescission of the contract or a claim for continued performance of the contract, it should be regarded as a disposition of the relevant property contents of the contract, which is a property claim.

The current "Measures for the Payment of Litigation Expenses", "Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees", and "Answers of the Chongqing Higher People's Court on Several Issues Concerning Civil Litigation Jurisdiction" and other relevant high court guidance opinions all confirm the above views.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

"Measures for Payment of Litigation Expenses"

Article 13 The case acceptance fee shall be paid according to the following standards:

(1) Property cases shall be paid cumulatively according to the amount or price claimed in the lawsuit according to the following proportions...

(2) Non-property cases shall be paid according to the following standards...

"Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" (Jinggao Fa Fa [2014] No. 450)

If the parties' claims are only for confirming the validity of the contract, continuing to perform the contract, or modifying, rescinding, or canceling the contract, the total amount of the contract object shall be used as the amount of the claim object, and the level of jurisdiction shall be determined and the case acceptance fee shall be charged.

"Answers of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing Municipality on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation" (Yu Gao Law [2017] No. 256)

10. How to determine the level of jurisdiction for cases requiring confirmation of contract validity or modification, revocation, or rescission of contract?

If the contract has no target amount, it shall be under the jurisdiction of the basic people's court.

judicial case

Case: Cheng Jianhua v. Hubei Zhongliang Real Estate Contract Dispute Jurisdiction

The Supreme People's Court

[Case No.] (2019) Supreme Court Civil Administration Final No. 85

[Nature of document] Ruling

[Judgment point of view] Whether it is the appellant's claim for rescission of the contract or the appellant's claim for continued performance of the contract, it should be regarded as the disposal of the relevant property contents of the contract, which belongs to the property appeal, and the contract amount should be used to determine the amount of the case.

[Judicial Viewpoint 2] If only the termination of the contract is the subject of litigation, and the disputed amount or price is not involved, the fee shall be charged on a per-piece basis.

Courts or judges who hold this view believe that if the termination of the contract is the subject of litigation and does not involve the disputed amount or price, the request itself does not involve the payment of property, and should not be regarded as a property claim to charge a case acceptance fee. The 2010 "Reply Opinions of the Supreme People's Court to Eight Internet Users' Opinions and Suggestions" and "Guiding Opinions of the Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collecting Litigation Fees (Trial) " show support for the above view.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

The Supreme People's Court's Reply to Eight Internet Users' Opinions and Suggestions (2010)

5. Litigation fees for termination of contracts vary

Internet users suggest that only the termination of the contract should be the subject of litigation, and the litigation fees that do not involve the disputed amount should be charged differently, which should be standardized.

The Supreme People's Court replied: If only the termination of the contract is the subject of litigation, and the amount or price in dispute is not involved, the fee shall be charged on a per-piece basis. The people's courts at all levels must collect litigation fees in strict accordance with the standards, and shall not increase the charging standards or expand the scope of fees without authorization.

Regarding the issue of different charges for litigation fees that only take the termination of the contract as the object of litigation and do not involve the disputed amount. According to the Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees and its relevant provisions, those who only take the termination of the contract as the object of litigation and do not involve the disputed amount or price shall be charged on a case-by-case basis. The collection of litigation fees by the people's courts at all levels must be carried out in strict accordance with the standards stipulated in the Measures for Payment of Litigation Fees, and shall not increase the charging standards or expand the scope of fees without authorization.

"Guiding Opinions of Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collection of Litigation Fees (for Trial Implementation) " (Jingao Fa Fa [2014] No. 9)

If a party requests to terminate the contract, it shall be governed at the level determined by the amount of unfulfilled contract plus the amount of other litigation claims. Only those who request to terminate the contract shall be charged according to non-property cases.

In the second situation, if both the request for termination of the contract and the return of property, payment of liquidated damages, compensation for losses, etc., judicial practice also has different views.

[Judicial point of view 1 (more mainstream) ] The case acceptance fee will be charged according to the higher amount of the subject matter of the lawsuit.

For parties who request the termination of the contract and also file other claims for the return of property, payment of liquidated damages, compensation for losses, etc., in order to avoid double counting of litigation costs, the court tends to charge the case acceptance fee based on the higher contract amount and the request for payment as the subject matter of the case.

The "Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" and the "Answers to Several Questions of the Chongqing Higher People's Court on Civil Litigation Jurisdiction" all adopt this method of determination.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

"Opinions of the Beijing Higher People's Court on Regulating the Level Jurisdiction of Contract Disputes and Case Acceptance Fees" (Jinggao Fa Fa [2014] No. 450)

"Answers of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing Municipality on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Civil Litigation" (Yu Gao Law [2017] No. 256)

10. How to determine the level of jurisdiction for cases requiring confirmation of contract validity or modification, revocation, or rescission of contract?

[Judicial point of view 2] Without considering the nature of the request for termination of the contract, only the amount of other claims is used as the subject matter of the lawsuit, and the fee is charged according to the property case.

Courts that hold this view generally do not regard it as a property claim on the basis that "the litigation request for termination of the contract itself does not involve the content of property payment," and hold that in cases where the parties request termination of the contract and raise other property claims, the acceptance fee should be calculated only according to the standard of property litigation claims in accordance with Article 201 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.

The "Guiding Opinions of the Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collection of Litigation Fees (for Trial Implementation) " confirms the above views.

Laws, regulations and normative documents

Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China

"Guiding Opinions of Tianjin Higher People's Court on Further Regulating the Standards for Collection of Litigation Fees (for Trial Implementation) " (Jingao Fa Fa [2014] No. 9)

If the parties request to terminate the contract, the level of jurisdiction shall be determined by the amount of the contract not performed plus the amount of other litigation claims. Those who only request to terminate the contract shall be charged according to non-property cases. If there are litigation claims for other property content at the same time, the amount of other litigation claims shall be used as the subject matter of the litigation, and shall be charged according to the property case.

To sum up, there are indeed different practices in different regions regarding the charging of case acceptance fees for litigation claims that contain "requests to confirm the validity of the contract, continue to perform or cancel the contract".

Draw the key points!!!

Therefore, lawyers, legal practitioners, and other legal practitioners, when formulating litigation strategies for relevant cases, suggest that the different opinions of the court on the acceptance fee of such cases be taken into account, so as to have a more accurate grasp of the litigation cost; it can also avoid unnecessary disputes with the parties on this issue, resulting in high interpretation costs.

comment

[1] From the official website of the National People's Congress, the link is as follows: http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c12434/c 1793/c 1859/c 2226/c 2269/201905/t20190524_10062.html.

[2] From the official website of the Supreme People's Court, the link is as follows:https://www.court.gov.cn/fuwu/xiangqing/78662.html。

Lawyer Jin Linxi

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