A document to interpret the marriage and family section of the Civil Code has been unveiled by China's top court on Wednesday, responding to the situation in which one side of the separated or divorced couples uses improper or even violent means to prevent the other side from seeing their children.
The judicial interpretation made by the Supreme People's Court clarifies that Chinese courts should issue personal safety protection order to children involved in divorce or other family disputes in a timely manner if it meets the condition.
"The order aims to prevent litigants involved in cases from fighting for child custody or depriving other family members of child visitation right by snatching or hiding the minors," Wang Dan, a judge from the top court, said.
If one spouse engages in such misconduct, courts will be allowed to give priority to the other side for the child custody when dealing with their divorce lawsuits, she added.
Making the stipulation is an implementation of the Civil Code, the country's fundamental law for regulating civil activities, as well as to better carry out the Minor Protection Law. Under the laws, both husband and wife have equal rights to bring up, educate and protect their minor children.
The judicial interpretation, which will take effect on Feb 1, is also a new measure taken by the top court in face of new problems in handling domestic cases in the new era, according to Chen Yifang, chief judge of the top court's First Civil Division.
According to data provided by Chen, in the past three years, Chinese courts concluded about 2 million cases related to marriage, family and inheritance each year, accounting for about 12 percent of all civil disputes. Among the cases, some 1.5 million involved divorce each year, accounting for nearly 80 percent of all domestic disputes.
The Civil Code is the first law called "code" since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, as well as a milestone legislation in comprehensively advancing the rule of law and promoting the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics.
The code consists of general provisions, which clarify basic civil rights, duties and principles, and six individual sections on property, contracts, personality rights, marriage and family, inheritance and torts.
The code was adopted in 2020 and has been in effect since January 2021. Since the end of 2020, the top court has begun interpreting the code to ensure its implementation.
