On the Legality of Civil Non-Prosecution Agreements

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202514315

Author(s)

Jiahui Li*

Affiliation(s)

China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

Against the backdrop of a shortage of judicial resources and the coexistence of diverse demands for dispute resolution, the study on the legality of civil non-prosecution agreements holds both theoretical and practical significance. From a legal perspective, such agreements reflect the parties' autonomous exercise of their litigation rights, aligning with the principle of disposition and the principle of procedural subjectivity in civil litigation, and also conform to the spirit of private law autonomy. At the institutional level, they relieve judicial pressure and reduce the cost of dispute resolution through out-of-court consensual models, which is in line with the contemporary value orientation of civil litigation towards being "swift and economical". In response to the negative views such as "no explicit legal provisions" and "litigation rights cannot be disposed of", the generality of law and the lag of legislation determine that a dynamic perspective should be adopted towards new types of agreements. Meanwhile, the relativity of the disposition of litigation rights and the boundaries of the "prohibition of arbitrary litigation" principle provide interpretative space for their legality.

Keywords

Civil Non-Prosecution Agreements; Legality Determination; Diversified Dispute Resolution

References

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