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China Intensifies Crackdown on Non-Compliance with Court Judgments

Tue, 06 Jan 2026
Categories: China Legal Trends

On 10 June 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC), Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the “Opinions on Handling Criminal Cases of Refusing to Comply with Judgments and Rulings” (关于办理拒不执行判决、裁定刑事案件若干问题的意见, hereinafter the “Opinions”), which took effect on 1 July 2025.

The Opinions clarify the specific responsibilities of the judiciary, police, and procuratorates in tackling these offenses of refusing to enforce judgments or rulings. Courts that identify suspected cases of non-compliance must transfer the relevant evidence to public security organs for investigation. Police are required to decide whether to formally open a case within seven days, a deadline that can be extended to 30 days for major or complex matters. Meanwhile, procuratorates are tasked with supervising the filing process and initiating public prosecutions. The guidelines also empower applicants (judgment creditors) to file private criminal lawsuits if they can provide evidence that a judgment debtor is intentionally defying a court order.

The Opinions builds upon a Judicial Interpretation that came into effect on 1 Dec. 2024, which sought to address China’s long-standing problem of “difficult enforcement” by refining the legal criteria.

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Statistics show that in 2023, courts nationwide concluded 9.76 million enforcement cases, with 4,246 offenders convicted of refusal-to-comply crimes. From January to October 2024, the number of offenders rose to 5,289, revealing China’s determination to intensify the crackdown.

 

Photo by Joshua Fernandez on Unsplash

Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team

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