Guide on Filing Civil Cases in the Hainan Free Trade Port

I. Conditions on filing a legal action

1. The plaintiff must be a citizen, legal person or other organization having direct interests in the case;

2.There must be a specific defendant;

3.There must be a specific claim, a factual basis and a cause of action;

4. The people’s courts must have authority to hear the civil disputes and have jurisdiction over the action.

II. Pleadings to Initiate an Action

1.Original and photocopies of the complaint;

One original copy, together with photocopies in numbers of opposing parties. The signature and seal of the plaintiff at the end of each copy shall be original.

2. Evidence on which the complaint is based as well as a list of evidence;

The list of evidence shall include the name of each piece of evidence (original or photocopy), number of its copies and the issues it proves. The evidentiary materials shall be provided in the same number of copies as that of the complaint.

3. ID certificates for the plaintiff, the defendant and third parties;

4. Confirmation of the plaintiff’s process service address.

Provided for reference only: please check http://en.hicourt.gov.cn/ for updates