再论我国的“不方便法院”原则

The Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens in China—Revisited

"不方便法院"是英美法系法院在受理案件过程中普遍运用的原则,而在大陆法系,该原则却极少被接受。由于我国基本继承了大陆法系的传统,该原则原本也不被我国法律所采纳。但是,近二十年来,该原则却逐渐被我国法学界所关注,并且在我国法院涉外审判实践中,事实上已得到了适用。我国的一些学者对此已有所论述。本文作者通过系统研究我国法院对该原则的适用情况得出:相对于英美来讲,该原则在我国仅仅是得到了限制性地适用,这与我国司法系统构成现状和涉外管辖权体系相符。展望未来,"不方便法院"原则应当被我国法律所吸收,最高院可以制定出更多针对该原则的适用细则。

Forum non conveniens is a popular doctrine in common law jurisdictions but it is generally rejected in civil law countries.Historically China is a country with civil law tradition and Chinese law accordingly does not recognize this doctrine.Nevertheless, this doctrine has gradually attracted more and more academic attention and been de facto applied by some Chinese courts in the past decades.A systematic survey of Chinese courts’ practice,however,demonstrates that compared with those in the US and UK, the Chinese version of this doctrine is quite a limited one,which is compatible with the Chinese jurisdictional background and judicial reality.Looking to the future,this doctrine should be formallyrecognized in Chinese law and more details on its application have to be worked out.