Our Enforcement Bureau has recently concluded a series of enforcement cases concerning arrears of crew wages. Their meticulous and innovative means of enforcement have effectively improved the quality, efficiency and credibility of enforcement, and duly protected the lawful rights and interests of the parties concerned.

The enforcement applicants had got into a dispute with the enforcement debtor, a shipping company in Anhui, under seafarer’s employment contracts, giving rise to eleven enforcement cases. The judgment debtor owed the eleven enforcement applicants crew wages totaling CNY 540,000 some. The enforcement applicants thus applied to us on 20 November 2017 for enforcement, and we entertained the cases on the same day. The wages were the main financial source for the crew, and their living would depend on the recovery of the wages, especially when the Chinese New Year was approaching. With such considerations, after the enforcement procedure started in the cases, Chen Ming, director of the Enforcement Bureau, promptly convened judges handling each case to analyze the cases and study effective strategies. A “Green Enforcement Passage” was opened specially for the cases. The next afternoon, in spite of the rain, a team of enforcement officers led by Chen Ming arrived at Macun Port, Haikou where the ship in dispute was berthing. Once there, they learnt about more details of the cases and the demands of the crew. In an attempt to seek a best and efficient solution, they patiently explained relevant legal provisions to the people in charge on the side of the judgment debtor and urged them to fulfil their obligation. Under the persistent legal persuasion and patient guidance, the judgment debtor eventually paid off the wages to the eleven crew members within two days.

The enforcement applicants were all nonlocals, and some of them had already left the ship to work somewhere else. Also considering that the ship was berthed in a location quite far from our court, it would no doubt be a heavier burden of litigation on the applicants if they were required to come to our courthouse for necessary formalities. For this reason, the Enforcement Bureau followed the provisions set out in Several Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on Further Strengthening the Service of Civil Process and set up a dedicated Rights Protection WeChat group for the crew members involved. The crew members were thus guided in their preparation of relevant documents and were able to go through necessary formalities without leaving the ship. Such practical measures truly helped to administer justice for the convenience of the people. Merely three days after the entertainment, the series of cases were successfully enforced and concluded.