Evidentiary Standards and Service Formalities in PRC Set Aside Proceedings
PRC arbitral set aside actions require proving strict procedural notice defects or outcome-determinative evidence fabrication under rigid statutory standards.
Deemed Service
Meaning
A legal fiction by which a litigation or arbitration document is treated as delivered and received even if the recipient did not take physical possession of it. Under the PRC Civil Procedure Law, deemed service ensures that a defendant cannot stall legal proceedings by evading physical delivery. This mechanism is necessary when a foreign party or local supplier refuses to accept court papers.
The court or tribunal can proceed with the case once the conditions are met. It maintains the efficiency of the dispute resolution process.
Triggering Event
Specific conditions must be satisfied before this method of delivery can be used. When a courier attempts to deliver court documents and the recipient refuses to sign without a valid reason, the courier can record the refusal. This record must be witnessed or captured on camera to be legally valid.
Once these steps are documented, the papers are left at the address and are considered served. This process prevents defendants from ignoring claims to escape liability.
Public Notice
When the whereabouts of a defendant are completely unknown, service can be made by public announcement. For domestic parties, the announcement is posted on the court’s website or in a national newspaper for thirty days, after which delivery is assumed. For foreign parties, the notice period is sixty days.
This method is a last resort used only after all direct delivery methods have failed. It allows the legal action to proceed to a default judgment.
Legal Effect
Once the service is assumed, all subsequent procedural deadlines begin to run. This includes the time allowed for filing a defence. A party served through this method cannot later claim lack of knowledge to overturn the decision.