Local Chinese Courts:
Other Side of the Shield To the Editor of the "Nonri-Cina Dany News"
Sim—The article which appeared in today's Issue of the N.C.D.N. concerning the functioning of the local Chinese Courts under the heading "Rendition of Courts, Here" misleading that I believe your readers should be acquainted with the real facts.
The allegation that "the Court is functioning very well today" is too funny for" words. "Tt may be funetioning very: well as far as the Police advocate is concerned and there is nothing surprising, for reasons well Kenown to the public, that he should ike the present state of affairs to continue, The truth is that the Court is fune~ tioning in such a miserable manner that even the correspondence columns of the N.CD.N. have many times Published complaints of the public~ At-large because justice is denied 20 often that in fact there Is no justice whatsoever, Everybody knows in Shanghai that the foreclosure of a mortgage, for instance, is impossible, and thai, for that reason, nobody and no bank, for many years, loans money on what used to be the safest of all guarantees, real estate, If. the borrower subject to the local Chinese Court. Everybody in Shanghai is also. acquainted with the fact that the Chinese Courts behave in a most un-
Jawfal and absurd manner regarding Chinese tenants who cannot be ex: pelled from the premises they occupy whether they pay their rent or not any ease where the defendant is a wealthy or influential man, it is waste of time and money to bring an action against him before the Chinese Court, Tt is for the above reasons that, driven to exasperation by the negative attitude of the Chinese Courts, some landlords or their agents have resorted to means of violence towards their tenants, a procedure, which of course, is most regrettable, but finds its explanation in the above-mention-
For instance: foreigner sold recently a house located in Rue Lafa-velte to another foreigner. 'The house in "question was oteupied by a Chinese, whose rent, $26 for a house of five rooms, bathroom, kitchen, ser~ vants' quarters, ete, was ridiculously Tow and who even' did not pay his rent for nearly a year. When the property was tvansférred, the Chinese Tenant, although he was given several months notice, refused to vacate the premises, refused to let the owner enter Into his own house and refused to pay the rent.
The case was brought before the 2nd District Court and the Judge without giving any decision concern-Ing the unpaid rent gave six months the tenant to vacate the house in question.
"The" owner appealed to the High Court which promptly annulled the first judgement, ordered that the tenant could remain indefinitely and did not make any order regarding the payment of nearly twelve months rent, although requested to do so! It may' be added that the Chinese defendant isa relative of a Chungking omeial.
In the meantime the buyer of the property: has invested $30,000 in the property for nothing; Te has also Spent nearly $1,000 dollars in Court foes for nothing: he does not collect any rent and nobody wants to pur chose his property, which om account ff the Chinese Court, is for the time that is the kind of justice tha satisfies "an oMelal of ihe S.Mt.
Ptake my hat off to him!
[tis totally untrue to state that, as your contributor alleges, "judges cannot be held to account because ofthe Law."
The So-called Modern Chinese Codes have been complied by well known Foreign legal advisers to the former Nanking Government, Al~ though the said laws are far from being perfect it is entirely the fault of the judges (who by the way Graw a miserable salary) if justice not properly administered, The fact that the Chinese Courts refuse to eject Chinese tenants who Sponge on the owners of the houses which they occupy, who do not even pay their rents and who refuse to pay even a slight increase, is coun tenanted nowhere in the Chinese Law, Article 439 provides that, "rents! should be paid regularly," Such article is ignored by the Chinese} Court, Article 440 provides that "in case non-payment by the tenant the ease should be cancelled provided that the tenant does not owe more than two months rent." The Courts: furore that ruling, Artice 443 provides that "the tenant cannot sub-let the premises eased to him without the consent EDITOR (continued)
Te Of the lessor." As everybody knows, the exploitation caused by subletting premises has become a pub-ie scandal and it is of no use to refer to the Chinese Court for any Kind of redress, Article 450 " provides specially that "it a lease has not been made for a fixed period either party has. the right to denounce the said lease at any moment provided that a rea~ sonable notice is given." The same article provides that "when the rent {s paid monthly, one month's notice vacate the ssid premises is suf Everybody knows in Shanghai, except "an Oficial of the SIC.* that the above article of law is simply ignored by the locat Chinese Your correspondent mentions that when the system of assessors was tu existence. the apltstion for its abolla lon grew "in "fotenstty. Clashes pinion between. foreign. assessors Rhown' as" assessors of" the Senior Consul and' the chinese Juages Became more "Yreatient protests were made byt Of course the fantastic way which the Chinese judges were try Ing to apply the law was bound to shock any fair-minded assessor or legal adviser, But instead of mai faining a decent standard of justice In this huge city the foreign authori les capitulated as usual and the Seandalous system to which have referred has now become chronic. In the meantime the foreign population "subject to the whims of the locat Chinese Courts has increased from barely 12,000 in 1937 (when the Mixed Court was surrendered), to over 70,000 presently, Indeed a nice state of affairs 'A Lawyer, Shanghai, June 26
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.