Recently, Haikou Maritime Court properly settled a dispute in Guangzhou in which a contract for the provision of ship supplies and spare parts was involved. In pursuit of fairness and efficiency in the administration of justice, the court settled the dispute by exercising property preservation and full elucidation of laws to the parties.  

In April 2024, the plaintiff Dai filed a lawsuit against the defendant Huang to the Boao Tribunal of Haikou Maritime Court, complaining that Huang did not pay for the ship bunkers and spare parts in the total amount of about 1.43 million yuan. The court accepted and docketed the case. However, Huang rejected the statement of claim and evidence served by post from the court and was reluctant to respond to the action.   

During the trial of the case, Dai applied to the court for property preservation with securities provided. Upon investigation, the court found that there was only some ten-thousand yuan in the saving account of Huang, which was far less than the amount claimed by the plaintiff. During the preservation procedures, the judges further found that Huang had a house in his name in Huadu District of Guangzhou. They hurried to the city to seize the house.

Learning that his house had been seized and bank account frozen, Huang agreed to meet the judges in Guangzhou. In their meeting, the judges elucidated the laws to Huang with great patience and in full detail and delivered the litigation documents to him in person. Upon Huang’s challenge to the interest calculation, the judges called the plaintiff immediately to update the situation and tried to mediate a settlement between the parties. The defendant finally accepted the mediation agreement after the judges’ patient elucidation of the laws. The parties signed the mediation agreement early next morning. As the parties were reconciled with each other, the dispute was settled within only 6 hours after taking the preservation measures.

The handling of the case, which moved efficiently from the acceptance of the case to the resolution of the dispute by mediation, is a vivid practice of the commitment of Haikou Maritime Court to build a “Fengqiao-style dispatched people’s tribunal” in the new era. The court will continue to take proactive judicial actions and apply mediation to all aspects of the work of people’s court, letting the people feel the warmth of justice.