BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- A judicial interpretation that took effect this week has listed more civil lawsuits as "false litigation," which refers to lawsuits filed without merit and those based on false claims or falsified evidence.
Anyone filing a lawsuit based on falsified evidence and a fabricated dispute shall be considered as committing false litigation offenses as stipulated in China's Criminal Law, according to the interpretation, which was formulated by China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
In another scenario, those who collude with one party of a married couple to falsify family debts for lawsuit filings will also be subject to the interpretation.
China's Criminal Law defines "false litigation" as a criminal offense that carries a prison sentence of no more than seven years.
The SPC said in a statement that the new interpretation is against the backdrop of a rise in cases involving false litigation, with more civil cases being accepted by courts at all levels since the adoption of a case-filing registration system.
