论中国不方便法院原则中的“中国利益”条款

On the"Chinese Interest"Clause in China's Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens

中国不方便法院原则的适用规则包括“中国利益”条款,该条款是中国法院拒绝适用不方便法院原则时援引最多的理由。“中国利益”的内涵较为宽泛,实践中大多数法院仅根据当事人的国籍来认定是否存在“中国利益”,有时第三人甚至案外人的国籍也会被考虑。根据司法实践,案件涉及“中国利益”至少意味着案件处理结果与中国主体之间存在直接利害关系。“中国利益”条款操作简便,意在维护中国当事人的利益,但在实践中容易使不方便法院原则的适用趋向僵化,偏离不方便法院原则排除极不方便审理的案件的管辖权的初衷。而且,在涉外民事诉讼管辖规则日益完善的当今,这一规定在维护中国当事人利益方面的作用有限,可能造成双方当事人之间程序性权利的失衡,甚至有放纵过度管辖权之嫌。2023年修正的《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》第282条将“中国利益”规定为“中华人民共和国主权、安全或者社会公共利益”,既能回归不方便法院原则关注审判便利性的本质,又为不方便法院原则保留了“安全阀”,能够适应如今中国涉外民事法律发展的需要,增强中国涉外民事法律的国际协调性。

The conditions for the application of the forum non conveniens doctrine in China include the clause"the case does not involve the national interest,or the interest of any citizen,legal person or any other organization of the People's Republic of China"(the"Chinese Interest"clause).The"Chinese interest"clause is the most frequently cited reason for the courts in China to refuse to apply the forum non conveniens doctrine.The"Chinese interest"clause is open to a wide range of interpretative possibilities.In practice,the interpretation of"Chinese interest"is mostly determined simply on the basis of the nationality of the parties,and the nationality of third parties or even outsiders could sometimes be considered.According to judicial practice,a case involving"Chinese interest"means at least that there is a direct interest between the outcome of the case and the Chinese subject.The"Chinese interest"clause is simple to apply and is intended to safeguard the interests of Chinese parties,but in practice it tends to make the application of the forum non conveniens doctrine more rigid and deviate from its original intention to exclude jurisdiction in cases that are extremely inconvenient for trial.Moreover,with the increasing improvement of jurisdictional rules in foreign-related civil litigation,this provision has limited effect in safeguarding the interests of Chinese parties,but creates an imbalance in procedural rights between the parties,and may even indulge in unreasonable expansion of jurisdiction.Article 282 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China,as amended in 2023,defines it as"sovereignty,security or public interest of the People's Republic of China",which can not only return to the essence of forum non conveniens doctrine and pay attention to the convenience of trial,but also retain the safety valve of the forum non conveniens doctrine.The provision meets the needs of the development of China's foreign-related civil law today,and enhances the international coordination of China's foreign-related civil law.