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Strengthening supervision over civil enforcement to promote solutions to the problem of “difficult enforcement”

“Paper rights” converted into “real money”

Civil execution supervision is an important part of the civil litigation supervision work of the procuratorial organs. In recent years, procuratorial organs in various places have exercised their civil execution supervision functions in accordance with the law, made full use of their investigation and verification powers, promoted the solution of execution deadlocks through procuratorial supervision, and strived to let the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case. Grassroots procuratorates are an important force in handling civil execution supervision cases. The Party Group of the Supreme People's Procuratorate emphasized that strengthening supervision over civil execution cases should be regarded as an important focus of grassroots civil procuratorial work, and the supervision mechanism should be further improved, the supervision procedures should be standardized, and the supervision capacity should be improved. The seminar for senior procurators held not long ago also made arrangements for strengthening execution supervision. Two civil execution supervision cases in the field of wage arrears disputes handled by grassroots procuratorates in Liaoning and Henan demonstrated the vivid practice of procuratorial organs in fulfilling the "last mile" of fair justice and safeguarding the rights and interests of workers who won lawsuits.

Shenyang Hunan

Correct improper "termination of capital" to provide relief to employees seeking salary

The employer did not comply with the court's decision, and Wang applied for compulsory execution, but was told that there was no property available for execution, which terminated the execution procedure. Wang was very worried about not getting his salary. However, under the supervision of the Hunan District Procuratorate of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, things took a turn for the better.

I won the lawsuit but still couldn't get the wages I owed

Employee application execution supervision

"I worked so hard, but in the end, my salary was withheld! What's the point of the court ruling in my favor?" One day in early 2022, Wang, an employee of a technology company in Hunan District, anxiously went to the Hunan District Procuratorate to apply for execution supervision after applying to the court for compulsory execution but was told that the execution procedure could only be terminated because the employer had no property available for execution.

Wang told the prosecutor that in March 2018, he joined a technology company as the sales director. He thought the company had good treatment and the position was suitable for him, but he did not expect that the company would start to default on his salary within less than a year. In desperation, he resigned in May 2019 and filed a lawsuit in court to get back the compensation he deserved.

In May 2020, the court ruled in favor of Wang's main claim, ordering a technology company to pay Wang a total of more than 120,000 yuan in back wages, overtime pay, and economic compensation. Although Wang won the case, he was not happy - the company had not fulfilled the obligations determined by the effective judgment, and when he applied for execution, he was told by the court that the company had no property available for execution.

It didn’t rain but it poured. During the litigation, Wang’s father and father-in-law became seriously ill. Wang had to go to the hospital every day to take care of the patients and was unable to work. There was no money for the subsequent medical expenses. “I really have no other choice. Can you help me?” Wang said excitedly.

After comprehensive analysis and judgment, the Hunan District Procuratorate accepted the case in accordance with the law.

The employer has made an investment but the investment has been terminated

Supervision in accordance with the law to promote reconciliation

After obtaining the case execution file from the court in accordance with the law and conducting a detailed review, the prosecutor found that the employer enjoyed the right to invest overseas, so he obtained all the information of the company, including the overseas investment situation, from the market supervision department. After a comprehensive investigation and verification, the prosecutor indeed made a new discovery: the employer had established a subsidiary wholly owned by the employer, and the subsidiary was in normal operation. The court failed to exhaust the investigation measures to ascertain this fact and improperly terminated the execution procedure, which was the fundamental reason why the case could not be effectively executed.

Subsequently, the Hunan District Procuratorate made a procuratorial suggestion to the court regarding the improper termination of the execution procedure and other illegal situations. At the same time, considering that the amount of the case was not large and Wang was in urgent need of money, the prosecutor in charge found the person in charge of the employer and informed him that the procuratorate had investigated and verified that the company enjoyed the right to invest overseas, and the legal consequences that might result if the judgment was not implemented; on the other hand, he informed him of Wang's family situation and difficult situation, and actively guided the employer to take the initiative to fulfill its obligations and reach a settlement with Wang.

After the two parties voluntarily reached a settlement, the settlement agreement was quickly implemented. The applicant Wang received the long-awaited labor remuneration, and the medical expenses of his relatives and daily family expenses were finally settled.

Big data models discover similar clues

Procuratorial suggestions promote the governance of similar cases

"The person subject to execution holds equity in external parties and has property available for execution, but the court terminates the execution procedure because it fails to exhaust all investigative measures. Is this a common problem? Can we screen out clues for similar case supervision by building a big data model?" After closing the case, the prosecutor fell into deep thought.

In December 2023, the Hunan District Procuratorate constructed a big data supervision model for equity execution in civil termination cases. By using computer algorithms, it compared and collated tens of thousands of corporate investor information obtained from market supervision departments across the district with the case information of the court's civil termination of the execution procedure. It finally screened out multiple civil execution cases involving 5 companies in which the parties subject to execution held equity in external parties but had not executed the equity.

Through further review of the court's execution files and comprehensive examination, the Hunan District Procuratorate has successively issued similar case supervision and prosecution suggestions to the court on five typical cases of improper finalization, which have been adopted by the court. At present, the execution of related cases has made breakthrough progress.

Legal knowledge tips

What is the "final version"?

"Zhengben" is the abbreviation of "terminating this execution procedure". According to the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Strictly Regulating the Termination of This Execution Procedure (Trial Implementation)", the court shall terminate this execution procedure if the following conditions are met at the same time: an execution notice has been issued to the person subject to execution, ordering the person subject to execution to report his property; a consumption restriction order has been issued to the person subject to execution, and the person subject to execution who meets the conditions has been included in the list of dishonest persons subject to execution; property investigation measures have been exhausted, and no property available for execution has been found on the person subject to execution, or the property found cannot be disposed of; more than three months have passed since the date of filing the execution case; if the whereabouts of the person subject to execution are unknown, they have been searched for in accordance with the law; if the person subject to execution or other persons obstruct the execution, compulsory measures such as fines and detention have been taken in accordance with the law, and if a crime is constituted, the criminal liability investigation procedure has been initiated in accordance with the law.

"Termination" only temporarily terminates the execution of the case and does not exempt the person subject to execution from the obligations he should perform. After "termination", the compulsory enforcement measures taken by the court against the person subject to execution, such as restricting high consumption and listing him in the list of dishonest persons subject to execution, remain valid. Within five years after "termination", the execution court shall query the property of the person subject to execution once every six months through the online execution control system and inform the applicant of the query results. If the conditions for resumption of execution are met, the execution court shall resume execution in a timely manner. If the applicant finds that the person subject to execution has property available for execution, he may apply to the execution court for resumption of execution. The application for resumption of execution is not subject to the limitation period for application for execution. If the execution court verifies that it is true, it shall resume execution.

Gushi, Henan

Discovery of missing execution targets

Supervise the implementation of wage arrears

The person subject to execution had no bank deposits, real estate or vehicles. After the creditor filed an application for execution supervision with the procuratorate, the procurator found, after an in-depth investigation, that the person subject to execution had four valid insurance policies. Can insurance property be enforced? A civil execution supervision case handled by the Gushi County Procuratorate in Henan Province recently gave the answer.

Suing for unpaid wages

The boss has no property to execute.

In May 2014, Li Fu and Zhu Shixiu, a couple from Gushi County, were hired by Peng Fei to guard the nursery and flower base. The two parties agreed that Peng Fei would pay them a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan.

From May 2014 to June 2022, Peng Fei owed Li Fu and Zhu Shixiu a total of 160,000 yuan in wages. After repeated requests to get the money back failed, on July 1, 2022, Li Fu sued Peng Fei in court, demanding that Peng Fei pay the overdue labor remuneration.

On September 19, 2022, the Gushi County Court ruled at first instance that Peng Fei should pay Li Fu and Zhu Shixiu 160,000 yuan in wages, 100,000 yuan within ten days after the judgment takes effect, and 60,000 yuan before November 30, 2022. If Peng Fei fails to perform the payment obligation within the specified period, he must double the debt interest during the delay.

After the first-instance judgment came into effect, because Peng Fei did not pay the outstanding wages within the specified period, Li Fu and Zhu Shixiu applied to the court for compulsory execution. On November 15, 2022, the Gushi County Court filed a case for execution.

On February 17, 2023, the Gushi County Court checked the property of the person subject to execution, Peng Fei, through the execution network control system and found that Peng Fei had neither bank deposits nor real estate or vehicles. Therefore, Peng Fei was included in the list of dishonest persons subject to execution and measures to restrict his high consumption were taken. On the same day, the court issued an execution ruling, ruling to terminate the execution procedure.

"Although the court has included Peng Fei in the 'dishonest blacklist', we still cannot get the unpaid wages. Who will compensate us for the losses we have suffered over the years?" Li Fu and Zhu Shixiu are nearly 70 years old and are in urgent need of pension funds. The unpaid wages have become a source of worry for the couple.

Application for execution supervision

Prosecutors found 4 valid insurance policies

On January 19 this year, Li Fu and Zhu Shixiu applied to the procuratorate for execution supervision with their last hope.

Prosecutors from the Gushi County Procuratorate in Henan Province receive visits from parties involved in the case.

"Does Peng Fei really have no other property to be executed?" After the Gushi County Procuratorate accepted the case, the prosecutor immediately launched an investigation and verification. When the execution file was retrieved and carefully reviewed in accordance with the law, an inconspicuous line of small words on the property inquiry feedback summary table caught the prosecutor's attention - Peng Fei had four insurance policies in his name.

After making this new discovery, the prosecutor in charge immediately went to the insurance company to retrieve the relevant information of the four insurance policies, and found out that Peng Fei had purchased life insurance from four insurance companies respectively, and all four policies were valid, and the cash value of the policies exceeded the execution target of the case.

Can the insurance property be enforced? my country's laws do not have clear provisions on this, which became the focus of debate when the case handling team discussed the case.

One party believes that the cash value of the policy can only be withdrawn after the insurance contract is terminated, while Article 15 of the Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that "unless otherwise provided for in this Law or otherwise agreed in the insurance contract, after the insurance contract is established, the policyholder may terminate the contract and the insurer may not terminate the contract." If Peng Fei's insurance property is enforced, it will conflict with this legal provision.

The other side believes that the cash value of the policy is formed based on the insurance premiums paid by the insured, and is the property rights and interests enjoyed by the insured according to law, and can be used as the subject of compulsory execution according to law. Allowing the execution of this part of the property will also help prevent the debtor from evading debts by investing in insurance.

Issuing prosecutorial recommendations

Workers receive all their outstanding wages

After in-depth discussions, searches and sorting out of relevant court enforcement cases, the case handling team reached a consensus: life insurance is insurance that takes a person's life and body as the subject of insurance, and the policy has a cash value, which has obvious property attributes. After the insurance contract is terminated, the cash value of the policy should generally belong to the insured. The cash value of the policy, as the property right of the person subject to enforcement, can be used as the subject of enforcement for compulsory enforcement.

On March 14 this year, the Gushi County Procuratorate issued a procuratorial suggestion to the county court, urging the court to take corresponding enforcement measures on the insurance property found in the name of the person to be enforced, Peng Fei, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the applicant for enforcement. The court adopted the procuratorial suggestion and enforced Peng Fei's insurance property as soon as possible. The procurator took the initiative to follow up on the enforcement, and all the funds involved in the case have been fully enforced.

"Next, we will make full use of the civil enforcement supervision and cooperation mechanism established with the court, and with the help of special supervision activities, we will proactively conduct centralized inspections of cases in multiple fields that have terminated the enforcement procedures. For cases where the parties subject to enforcement use insurance and financial products to transfer or conceal property and evade enforcement, we will promptly urge the court to strengthen enforcement, help the court better solve the problem of 'difficult enforcement', and jointly maintain judicial authority and credibility." said Gao Jinfeng, the prosecutor in charge.

(All characters in this article are pseudonyms)

(Prosecution Daily Wang Ling Liu Xiaonan Yu Yi Liu Lixin Wu Xiaojun)