Issue Involved:
When a party destroys important evidence and refuses to comply with a PRC court’s effective preservation, the PRC court will impose a fine on the said party.
Mengchun’s Comments:
By imposing a significant fine on Company B for their obstruction of evidence, the PRC court sends a strong message that any attempts to destroy evidence will not be tolerated. This action underscores the importance of compliance with legal procedures and the serious consequences of obstructing justice.
Summary of the Court’s Order:
During the first instance proceedings, based on Company A’s request for evidence preservation, the first instance court issued a civil ruling to preserve evidence related to the use, installation, and copying of SketchUp series software on computers and other facilities at Company B’s business premises.
On July 30, 2021, the first instance court delivered this ruling to Company B’s business premises and clearly explained their obligation to comply with the evidence preservation, including the legal consequences of non-compliance. Despite this, during the evidence preservation process, the first instance court found that several employees of Company B, acting under the instructions of their management, deleted the relevant software.
The first instance court repeatedly explained the nature and the legal consequences of their actions and ordered them to stop immediately. On-site investigations confirmed multiple WeChat groups of Company B contained records instructing the deletion of the involved software. Despite these warnings, Company B continued to refuse cooperation, prompting the first instance court to directly count the number of computers to preserve the evidence.
This Supreme People’s Court holds that Company B’s actions severely obstructed the normal civil litigation order, making it impossible for the court to accurately ascertain key facts, such as the exact number of infringing software installations by Company B. Therefore, it should be severely sanctioned according to law.
Court’s Order:
In accordance with Article 114, Article 118, and Article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Supreme People’s Court imposed a fine of CNY 1 million on Company B.
