Supreme Court of China Issues Judicial Interpretation Governing Private Antitrust Litigations

On 3 May 2012,China's Supreme People's Court issued the Rules of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Hearing Civil Cases Caused by Monopolistic Conduct ("Rules").The Rules contain 16 articles covering standing of plaintiffs,jurisdiction,burden of proof,evidentiary rules,expert witness,the judicial process, form of civil liabilities and the statute of limitations.The Rules entered into force on 1 June 2012.

Compared to the draft Rules released last year for public comments ("Draft Rules")¹,the Rules contain fewer articles and remain silent on a few issues that were previously addressed in the Draft Rules.This article discusses the major provisions in the Rules.