New Precedent – Chinese Civil Mediation Judgment has been Recognised and Enforced in New South Wales, Australia

Recently, Jurisbridge Legal represented Bank of China Limited in resolving a judgement for enforcing a civil mediation judgment issued by a Chinese court, creating a precedent for Australia, and paving the way for quicker cross-border execution of judicial papers. Bank of China Ltd v Chen [2022] 749 (Harrison AsJ) (No 1) and Bank of China Ltd v Chen (No 2) [2022] NSWSC 1168 (Wright J) (No 2).

Under Chinese law, before entering formal litigation proceedings, Chinese courts use a specialised civil mediation process to resolve disputes between the plaintiff (Bank of China) and the defendant. The court issued a “Civil Mediation Judgment” ordering the defendant to jointly repay the loan principal and interest, totalling approximately RMB 40.36 million. However, the debtor only repaid approximately RMB 1.85 million of the principal and interest, leaving an outstanding balance of approximately RMB 38.66 million as of 28 November 2021.

Due to the debtor’s lack of other assets that can be executed in China, Bank of China Limited decided to pursue the defendant’s overseas assets, especially in Australia in 2021. Bank of China Limited entrusted Jurisbridge Legal to initiate legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Jurisbridge Legal successfully helped the client to have the civil mediation judgment issued by the Chinese People’s Court recognised and enforced by the Australian court and also compelled the defendant to pay the plaintiff’s litigation costs.