Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.37

December 27, 2015

The Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 27, 2015, is hereby issued for implementation as of March 1, 2016.

Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China

Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on December 27, 2015)

Table of Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Prevention of Domestic Violence
Chapter III Handling of Domestic Violence
Chapter IV Personal Safety Protection Orders
Chapter V Legal liability
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted in order to prevent and stop domestic violence, protect the lawful rights and interests of family members, preserve equal, harmonious and civilized family relationships, and promote family harmony and social stability.

Article 2 For the purpose of this Law, domestic violence refers to physically or mentally injurious acts committed by a family member against another family member by the use of means such as beatings, restrains, harm, forcible restrictions on physical liberty, and frequent verbal abuses and threats.

Article 3 Family members shall help each other, care for each other, live in harmony, and perform family obligations.
Anti-domestic violence is a common responsibility shared by the state, the society and every family.
The state prohibits any form of domestic violence.

Article 4 Institutions in charge of women and children's affairs of people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for organizing, coordinating, guiding and urging the relevant departments to effectively perform anti-domestic violence work.
The relevant departments of people's governments at or above the county level, judicial organs, people's organizations, social organizations, neighborhood committees, villagers' committees, enterprises, and public institutions shall effectively carry out anti-domestic violence work in accordance with this Law and relevant regulations.
People's governments at all levels shall provide necessary funds for anti-domestic violence work.

Article 5 Anti-domestic violence work shall be carried out under the principles of focusing on prevention and combining education, correction and punishment.
In anti-domestic violence work, the will of victims shall be respected and the privacy of the parties concerned shall be protected.
Special protection shall be given to minors, elderly persons, disabled persons, pregnant and lactating women, and seriously ill patients suffering from domestic violence.

Chapter II Prevention of Domestic Violence

Article 6 The state shall carry out publicity and education on good family values and disseminate the knowledge on anti-domestic violence to increase citizens' anti-domestic violence awareness.
Trade unions, communist youth leagues, women's federations, and disabled persons' federations shall organize and carry out publicity and education on good family values and anti-domestic violence.
Radios, televisions, newspapers, internet, and others shall carry out publicity on good family values and anti-domestic violence.
Schools and kindergartens shall conduct education on good family values and anti-domestic violence.

Article 7 The relevant departments of people's governments at or above the county level, judicial organs, and women's federations shall include the prevention and stopping of domestic violence in their work training and statistical work.
Medical institutions shall effectively keep medical records of domestic violence victims.

Article 8 Township people's governments and sub-district offices shall organize and carry out domestic violence prevention work, for which neighborhood committees, villagers' committees, or social work service agencies shall provide cooperation and assistance.

Article 9 People's governments at all levels shall support social work service agencies and other social organizations in providing mental health consultation, family relationship counseling, education on domestic violence prevention knowledge, and other services.

Article 10 People's mediation organizations shall mediate in family disputes in accordance with the law to prevent and reduce the occurrence of domestic violence.

Article 11 Where an employer finds that any of its employees has committed domestic violence, it shall reprimand and educate such employee, and effectively mediate in and resolve family conflicts.

Article 12 Guardians of minors shall carry out family education in a civilized way, perform their guardian's and education responsibilities in accordance with the law, and may not commit domestic violence.

Chapter III Handling of Domestic Violence

Article 13 A domestic violence victim or his/her legal agent or close relative may make a complaint or report to or request help from the employer of the offender or the victim or the neighborhood committee, villagers' committee, women's federation or any such other entity. After the relevant entity receives the complaint, report or request for help, it shall offer help or handle the case.
A domestic violence victim or his/her legal agent or close relative may also report the case to a public security organ or file a lawsuit with a people's court.
Any entity or individual that discovers an ongoing domestic violence shall have the right to promptly dissuade the offender from such act.

Article 14 Where any school, kindergarten, medical institution, neighborhood committee, villagers' committee, social work service agency, aid and relief management institution, and welfare institution or any employee thereof discovers a case or suspected case of domestic violence against a person having no or limited capacity for civil conduct, it shall promptly report the case to a public security organ. Public security organs shall keep informants' information confidential.

Article 15 After receiving a report of a case of domestic violence, a public security organ shall promptly dispatch police officers to stop the act of domestic violence, investigate and collect evidence on the case in accordance with relevant regulations, and assist the victim in seeking medical service and injury identification.
Where a person having no or limited capacity for civil conduct sustains serious physical harm, faces personal safety threat or is in an unattended or other dangerous state due to domestic violence, public security organs shall notify and assist civil affairs departments to place such person in a temporary shelter, aid and relief management institution or welfare institution.

Article 16 Where a case of domestic violence is relatively minor and not subject to public security administration penalties under the law, public security organs shall reprimand and educate the offender and give him/her a warning letter.
The warning letter shall state the identification of the offender, facts of domestic violence, and prohibition on the offender against domestic violence among other contents.

Article 17 Public security organs shall deliver the warning letters to both offenders and victims and notify the relevant neighborhood committees and villagers' committees of the case.
Neighborhood committees, villagers' committees and public security stations shall visit and check on the offenders and victims receiving the warning letter and monitor the offenders to ensure they will no longer commit domestic violence.

Article 18 People's governments at the level of county or city with district division may set up temporary shelters separately or on the basis of aid and relief management institutions to provide temporary living aid to domestic violence victims.

Article 19 Legal aid institutions shall provide legal aid to domestic violence victims in accordance with the law.
People's courts shall defer the collection of, reduce or exempt litigation costs borne by domestic violence victims.

Article 20 In trying a case relating to domestic violence, a people's court may determine facts of domestic violence on the basis of police dispatching records, the warning letter, injury identification opinions, and other evidence.

Article 21 Where a guardian commits domestic violence which seriously harms the lawful rights and interests of the ward, a people's court may revoke the guardian's guardianship in accordance with the law and designate another guardian for the ward based on the application of a relevant person or entity including a close relative of the ward, or the relevant neighborhood committee, villagers' committee, or civil affairs department of the people's government at the county level.
The offender revoked of his/her guardianship shall continue to pay the corresponding support, maintenance and upbringing costs.

Article 22 Trade unions, communist youth leagues, women's federations, federations of disabled persons, neighborhood committees, and villagers' committees shall conduct legal education on domestic violence offenders, and may conduct psychological counselling on offenders and victims when necessary.

Chapter IV Personal Safety Protection Orders

Article 23 Where a party applies to a people's court for a personal safety protection order due to an act or real risk of domestic violence against him/her, the people's court shall accept the application.
Where a party is unable to apply for a personal safety protection order due to him/her being a person having no or limited capacity for civil conduct or due to coercion or threat or other reasons, his/her close relative, a public security organ, women's federation, neighborhood committee, villagers' committee, or aid and relief management institution may apply for the personal safety protection order on the person's behalf.

Article 24 An application for a personal safety protection order shall be made in writing; if it is indeed difficult to file a written application, an oral application is allowed which is to be put down in writing by the people's court.

Article 25 A case of applying for a personal safety protection order shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the people's court at the grass-root level in the place where the applicant or respondent resides or where the domestic violence occurred.

Article 26 A personal safety protection order shall be made by a people's court in the form of ruling.

Article 27 The following conditions shall be met for the issuance of a personal safety protection order:
1. there is a clearly identified respondent;
2. there is a specific request; and
3. there is an act or real risk of domestic violence.

Article 28 After accepting an application, a people's court shall issue a personal safety protection order or reject the application within 72 hours or, in case of emergencies, within 24 hours.

Article 29 A personal safety protection order may contain the following measures:
1. prohibiting the respondent from committing act of domestic violence;
2. prohibiting the respondent from harassing, stalking, contacting the applicant and his/her relevant close relatives;
3. ordering the respondent to move out of the domicile of the applicant; and
4. other measures for protection of the personal safety of the applicant.

Article 30 A personal safety protection order shall take effect as of the date of issuance and remain effective for no more than six months. Before a personal safety protection order expires, the people's court may revoke, alter or extend it based on the application of the applicant.

Article 31 Where an applicant is dissatisfied with the rejection of his/her application for a personal safety protection, or where a respondent is dissatisfied with the decision on a personal safety protection order against him/her, he/she may applies to the people's court that made the original ruling for reconsideration within five days from the effective date of such ruling. Where a people's court issues a personal safety protection order in accordance with the law, it shall not stop the enforcement of such personal safety protection order during a reconsideration period.

Article 32 After issuing a personal safety protection order, a people's court shall deliver such order to the applicant, the respondent, the relevant public security organ, neighborhood committee, villagers' committee, and other relevant organizations. A personal safety protection order shall be enforced by a people's court, with the assistance from the relevant public security organ, neighborhood committee, villagers' committee and other relevant organizations.

Chapter V Legal liability

Article 33 Where a person commits an act of domestic violence which constitutes a violation of public security administration regulations, he/she shall be subject to public security administration penalties; if the act constitutes a crime, he/she shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with the law.

Article 34 Where the breach of a personal safety protection order by a respondent constitutes a crime, the respondent shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with the law, otherwise a people's court shall reprimand the respondent and impose on him/her to a fine of up to CNY1,000 and a detention of up to 15 days depending on the seriousness of the case.

Article 35 Where a school, kindergarten, medical institution, neighborhood committee, villagers' committee, social work service agency, aid and relief management institution, or welfare institution or any of its employee fails to report a case to a public security organ as required by Article 14 of this Law which causes serious consequences, the superior competent authority of the entity or the entity shall impose sanctions against the direct liable person in charge and other direct liable persons in accordance with the law.

Article 36 Where an officer of the state having the responsibility for anti-domestic violence neglect his/her duty, abuses his/her power, or engages in any malpractice for personal gains, he/she shall be subject to sanctions in accordance with the law; if the case constitutes a crime, he/she shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with the law.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 37 For an act of violence committed by a person against another person in cohabitation therewith other than a family member, this Law shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 38 This Law shall come into force as of March 1, 2016.