On May 8, 2024, Procuratorial Daily, page 6
The IOU ten years ago was finally paid
Jiujiang, Wuhu: Resolving a Civil Dispute Involving Enterprises by "Harmony"
Our reporter Wu Yihuo, correspondent Fan Ying
▲ Both parties reach a settlement agreement and complete the performance on the spot.
"I didn't expect that this IOU ten years ago would still allow me to get the money back."
"Thank you very much for your reconciliation work. I can finally put this matter aside."
Recently, the two parties in a case of procuratorial supervision over civil disputes involving enterprises shook hands and made peace in the Procuratorate of Jiujiang District, Wuhu City, Anhui Province. Seeing this scene, the undertaking prosecutor really felt that everything he had done to resolve the dispute was worthwhile.
The legal representative shouts: Does the company pay off its debts?
It goes back ten years. In 2014, a Shenzhen Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Energy Saving Company") purchased PP-R materials from a building materials business department in Jiujiang District (hereinafter referred to as "Building Materials Business Department") for many times. Zhou is the legal representative of the company. Because the company failed to pay off the payment in time, he personally wrote a note to the building materials business department saying "20724 yuan is owed for PP-R materials today", and signed "Zhou" at the signature, but did not stamp the official seal of the energy conservation company.
Since the energy saving company has not paid for materials, in October 2015, the Building Materials Business Department filed a lawsuit against Zhou to the court of Jiujiang District. During the litigation, the court repeatedly failed to contact Mr. Zhou, and his address on the household registration information had also been removed, so it announced the service of copies of the indictment, court summons and other legal documents. When the case was heard, Zhou was absent from the court.
In April 2016, the court of Jiujiang District issued a judgment of first instance, ordering Mr. Zhou to repay the building materials business department with the loan of 20724 yuan and overdue interest.
In February 2017, Zhou's company was suspected of fraud due to the collection of franchise fees. As the legal representative of the company, Zhou was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for fraud by the court of Yongqiao District, Suzhou City, Anhui Province in the first instance. During the period of serving his sentence, Zhou constantly complained about the criminal cases of fraud involved and the above-mentioned civil cases of arrears disputes. In April 2022, after a retrial, Yongqiao District Court found that Zhou had no intention of fraud and the relevant facts were economic disputes, so it revoked the original criminal judgment and declared Zhou innocent.
Insufficient evidence and unsupported application for supervision
Although the criminal judgment of the court returned his innocence, the civil case of the arrears dispute with the Building Materials Business Department was still difficult for Zhou to let go. In 2023, he applied to Wuhu Intermediate Court for retrial of the first instance judgment of the case, but was rejected.
In January this year, Mr. Zhou applied to the Jiujiang District Procuratorate for supervision. He told the undertaking prosecutor that PP-R materials were purchased for the installation needs of the company's project, and the PP-R materials actually purchased were also used for the company's project installation, and the relevant payment should be borne by his energy-saving company. However, after many years, Zhou has been unable to provide any evidence to prove it.
After reviewing the files of the first instance and retrial of the case, the undertaking prosecutor believed that although the PP-R materials were indeed used in the project of the energy-saving company, the IOU only contained Zhou's personal signature and identity information, and there was no new evidence to prove that Zhou was acting on behalf of the company during the transaction between the two parties, and the court judgment was not improper, The reason why Zhou claimed to exempt himself from the responsibility of the contract subject was obviously lack of basis, so he made a decision not to support the supervision application according to law.
However, how can a notice of examination result easily untie the "knot" of the applicant for many years. "The complainant's refusal to accept the judgment is just an appearance, and his personal repayment ability and the company's operating difficulties are the root of his heart knot." The undertaking prosecutor learned from many conversations with Zhou that Zhou's energy conservation company has been unable to obtain funds for several projects, so it is difficult for him to operate at present, and he has also been involved in various litigation disputes for a long time in his late 60s.
The procuratorial organ facilitates reconciliation, and the creditor recovers the arrears
In order to ease the business difficulties of the enterprise and resolve the conflicts between the two sides as soon as possible, the prosecutor in charge decided to try to carry out civil procuratorial reconciliation. In the process of communication with Zhou, on the one hand, the prosecutor interpreted the law and reasoned to guide his rational judgment and obey the court's judgment; On the other hand, put himself in the position of persuading Zhou, based on the current business situation of the company, only by fulfilling the judgment obligation as soon as possible can the impact of the "height limit" be relieved and the company's business development be better invested.
After seeing Zhou's attitude eased, the prosecutor "struck while the iron was hot" contacted Huang Moumou, the head of the Building Materials Business Department, and hoped that he could resolve the dispute as soon as possible by means of reconciliation on the basis of considering reducing the burden of litigation, and consider Zhou's ability to repay to exempt his interest on overdue payments. Through the unremitting efforts of the prosecutor, the two sides reached a settlement: the Building Materials Business Department agreed to reduce part of the amount, and Zhou agreed to pay the agreed total payment for goods in a lump sum. On March 26, 2024, under the witness of the prosecutor, the two parties signed a settlement agreement, and Zhou paid the amount owed on the spot.
After that, Huang Moumou, the head of the Building Materials Business Department, thanked the procuratorial organ for helping him "recover" the ten-year entangled creditor's rights through reconciliation, and entrusted the Jiujiang District Procuratorate to submit the application for the closure of the relevant enforcement case to the court. At present, the Jiujiang District Court has terminated the enforcement case and lifted the "height limit" and other enforcement measures against Zhou.
"Harmony" is the way and means, and "solution" is the result and purpose. In carrying out the special action of "inspecting and protecting people's livelihood", the Procuratorate of Jiujiang District focused on the urgent needs of the masses, gave full play to the role of "harmony" to promote "solution", and achieved remarkable results. It is understood that since the launch of the special action, the court has handled 13 reconciliation cases, including 2 civil procuratorial reconciliation cases, 6 substantive administrative dispute resolution cases, and 5 criminal reconciliation cases.
