(2022-12-06-ны өдрийн орчуулгын хяналт)                               Unofficial translation
 

ТУРШИЛТЫН ХУВИЛБАР +(976)-11-312513 info@legalinstitute.mnLAW OF MONGOLIA

January 10, 2002               Ulaanbaatar

ON CIVIL PROCEDURE

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR CIVIL PROCEDURE

CHAPTER ONE

General Provisions

Article 1.The purpose of the law

1.1.The purpose of this law is to regulate the relations of the court on the adjudication of a civil legal dispute between the participants in the civil legal relationship, by instituting a case.

Article 2.Legislation on civil procedure

2.1.Legislation on civil procedure shall consist of the Constitution of Mongolia, this law, and other legislative acts enacted in conformity with these.

2.2.If an international treaty to which Mongolia is a party provides otherwise, the provisions of the international treaty shall prevail.

Article 3.The right to apply to the Court

3.1.Any person, who considers its human rights, freedom, and legal interests provided by the law of Mongolia and international treaties to which Mongolia is a party, is violated, is entitled to apply to courts for protection of the rights, in accordance with the procedures provided by this law and in the form of claim, request or complaint.

3.2.Alternative and preliminary procedures of dispute resolutions of the claim, request or complaint for the protection of the rights provided by Article 3.1 of this Law may be established by law.

3.3.A legal dispute, in which its jurisdiction is not determined by law shall be adjudicated by a court according to procedures provided by this law.

Article 4.Equality before the Court

4.1.Civil court procedure /hereinafter referred to as "case proceedings"/ shall be based on the principle of equality, without discrimination of any person by ethnicity, language, race, gender, social origin, social status, property, job, position, religion, opinion, education or other, nor of any legal entity by type of ownership and size.

Article 5.Implementation of judicial power by courts, and independence of the judges

5.1.Judicial power shall be exercised by a court established according to law.

5.2.A judge shall be independent and shall be governed solely by law, and the independence of a judge shall be guaranteed by law.

5.3.Interference with and influence to a judge's judicial duty for administration of justice by the President, the Prime Minister, Members of the State Great Khural and the Government, officers of the state agency and non-governmental organization, and any citizen shall be prohibited.

5.4.A claim, request, and complaint lodged in accordance with Article 3.1 of this law shall be allotted to judges pursuant to the procedure adopted by the Judge Council of the court; and the procedure shall ensure the conditions to allocate unpredictably and randomly. Based on the judicial panel decision of the Judge Council, Chief judge or chamber head shall appoint the judge, judicial panel and the chair of the court session who adjudicates by issuing an order.

/The amendment to this paragraph was made according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

/The amendment to this paragraph was made according to the law as of 3 August 2007, the second sentence of this paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

5.5.Litigants shall have the right to demand a case to be adjudicated according to allotment provided by Article 5.4 of this Law.

5.6.If any person tries to influence the judge or judicial panel in the judgment of the case or dispute, an influence declaration shall be made.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 6.Adversarial principle

6.1.Case proceedings shall be administered on the adversarial principle.

6.2.The adversarial principle shall apply to all stages of the case proceedings.

6.3.Litigants, their representatives and attorneys shall contest by proving or denying the case facts, whether there is a faulty action.

6.4.Litigants, their representatives, and attorneys shall attend court sessions in person and shall have equal rights to give oral and written statements, and present and analyze the evidence.

6.5.Litigants are obliged to give substantial statement and present evidence that is material for adjudicating the case.

6.6.Statements regarding demands of the claim shall only be issued by litigants. This article shall not apply to cases to be adjudicated in accordance with Article 133 of this law.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 7.Language of the case proceedings

7.1.The case proceeding shall be conducted in the Mongolian language, with a record of proceedings in the state official language. If the Court deems necessary, video and audio recording of the case proceedings may be made.

7.2.If a participant in the case proceeding does not understand the Mongolian language, they shall have the right to provide statements and testimony and to submit evidence in their native language or any other language and writing in which they are fluent, and if the participant cannot communicate in an official language and writing due to blindness, muteness, and deafness, they may use sign language and special characters.

7.3.The court shall be responsible for presenting statements, testimony and evidence from persons stated in Article 7.2 of this Law, and the process of adjudicating the case to the participants via interpreters and translators.

7.4.Evidence in a foreign language shall be formally translated by officially licensed translator into Mongolian language.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 10 February 2011/

Article 8.Open session of court

8.1.Court sessions of all instances shall be held open.

8.2.Court sessions can be held fully or partially closed at the request of the case participants, their representative, and attorney, or by or at the court's initiative if evidence or the event is related to the state and official secrets, or organizational secrets, or personal sensitive information.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

8.3.A legally disabled person, or person under influence of alcohol or narcotics, non-participant of the case and persons under the age of 18 years shall not be permitted in the court room.

8.4.Judge and participants in the court session are prohibited to disclose state and official secrecy, the secrecy of an organization, and personally sensitive information that was made known during the closed session or entrusted to the judge in relation to his/her official duty.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

Article 9.Court session to be conducted continuously

9.1.All level court sessions shall be continuous and non-stop throughout the day, except for necessary time for rest.

9.2.A judge and panel shall have no right to adjudicate any other case until the proceedings of the case under adjudication are completed, or until the adjudication process is adjourned or suspended.

Article 10.Application of law and international norms

10.1.Court shall apply the Constitution and other laws adopted in accordance to the Constitution, officially published and effective when adjudicating a case.

10.2.If Court considers that the law to be applied in adjudicating a case is not in conformity with the Constitution, it shall suspend the case proceedings and submit an opinion regarding this to the State Supreme Court.

10.3.If the State Supreme Court, after discussing the opinion provided by Article 10.2 of this Law, considers that it has grounds, shall issue a resolution on submitting the request to the Constitutional Court. In case of considering the opinion groundless it shall be returned to the Court that has submitted the opinion for resolution through regular proceedings.

10.4.In the absence of law that could regulate the matter in issue, court shall apply the legal norms that are regulating the similar relations. In the absence of such law, the court shall resolve the matter in conformity with the contents, general grounds, and principles of the Constitution.

10.5.If it is not in contradiction with the Constitution of Mongolia, the court may similarly apply the internationally recognized norms when adjudicating a case related to international civil law.

10.6.Court shall not refuse to resolve a case on the grounds that there is no legal norms to regulate disputed matter or absence of such norms is not clear.

10.7.Court shall not refuse to apply a norm of legislation on the grounds that laws are in contradiction, unfair, or in contravention of public order and morality.

Article 11.Compulsory enforcement of court decision

11.1.A citizen and legal entity are obliged to execute the effective court decision.

11.2.If Court decision has not been executed voluntarily it shall be executed compulsorily according to grounds and procedures specified in law.

CHAPTER TWO

Grounds for Instituting a Civil Case, Jurisdiction of Case

Article 12.Grounds for instituting a civil case

12.1.Court may institute a civil case /hereinafter referred to as "case"/ based on the following grounds:

12.1.1.claim lodged by a participant a legal relationship  regarding violation of its rights in connection with tangible and intangible wealth;

12.1.2.claim lodged by a person whose right to file a lawsuit to protect the rights, freedoms, and interests of others is granted by law;

12.1.3.request submitted by an interested person for adjudication of a case through special procedures and regarding matters specified by law;

12.1.4.complaint lodged against the activity of and administrative act of an agency and officer other than that set out in Article 5 of the General Administrative Law;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007, this sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 4 February 2016/

12.1.5.other grounds provided by law.

Article 13.Jurisdiction of cases

13.1.Court shall resolve claims, requests, or complaints /hereinafter referred to as "claim"/ lodged on the grounds specified by Article 12 of this law through its jurisdiction.

13.2.If provided by law, international treaty to which Mongolia is a party, or the litigants have agreed, the disputes between citizens, legal entities shall be resolved by arbitration.

13.3.If the parties have not provided in their agreement to resolve disputes by arbitration, or have not agreed on arbitration or if the inter-governmental agreements do not provide to resolve disputes by arbitration, the claim shall be adjudicated by court.

13.4.A claim on illegal administrative acts by administrative organizations and officers specified in Article 4.1 of Administrative Procedural Law shall be adjudicated by the administrative court.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007, and was annulled according to the law as of 4 February 2016/

13.5.If the parties agreed by contract that disputes shall be resolved by mediation process, it shall be deemed that the alternative and preliminary procedures of dispute resolutions is set out.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 14.Lodging a claim in the territorial jurisdiction of the residing /located/ place of the defendant

14.1.Unless otherwise provided by law or a contract, a claim shall be lodged to the court of the area where the defendant resides.

14.2.If the defendant is a legal entity, the claim shall be lodged to the court of that area where the entity regularly runs its operation, or where headquarters of the legal entity locates.

14.3.If the defendant's residence is unknown, the claim may be lodged to the court of the area where the claimed property is situated.

14.4.A plaintiff may request court for search of defendant if the defendant's place of residence is unknown.

14.5.Police agency shall execute operations for search of the defendant and identification of his/her place of residence based on a court decision or judge order.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 15.Territorial jurisdiction at the plaintiff's choice

15.1.Claim for compensation of damages that caused death or injury to others may be lodged to the courts for areas where either the defendant or the plaintiff resides.

15.2.If the place of performance is specifically indicated in the contract, related claim may be lodged to the court for the area where the performance was supposed to take place.

15.3.A claim against several defendants residing /located/ in different places shall be lodged, at the plaintiff's choice, to the court for the area where any one of the defendants is residing /located/.

15.4.A claim for establishment of a legally significant event shall be lodged to the court for the area where the lodging citizen or legal entity resides /locates/ or where the event took a place.

Article 16.Exclusive jurisdiction of court

16.1.Claim concerning the rights to immovable property or release of a property from freezing injunction shall be lodged to the court for the area where the property is located.

16.2.Claim concerning Mongolian citizen or legal entity located abroad may be lodged to the court for the area where the plaintiff resides /located/ or where the defendant's property is located.

16.3.Claim to be lodged by an obligee of the decedent, before the inheritance is accepted by an inheritor, shall be lodged to the court for the area where the whole inherited property or the main part of it is situated.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

16.4.Claim related with a support shall be lodged to the court for the area where the plaintiff resides.

Article 17.Jurisdiction of several interconnected cases

17.1.Claim regarding damages caused as a result of a crime shall be adjudicated together with the criminal case.

17.2.If not adjudicated together with the criminal case, the claim shall be lodged according to procedures and jurisdiction specified by law.

17.3.Disputes related to payment of damages caused by criminal case shall not be adjudicated through civil proceeding until it is decided by criminal proceeding.

Article 18.Change of jurisdiction

18.1.Litigants may change the territorial jurisdiction for the case under a mutual agreement.

18.2.Exclusive jurisdiction specified in Article 16 of this law shall not be changed by the agreement of the litigants.

Article 19.Jurisdiction of courts for adjudicating cases

19.1.Soum and Inter-Soum or district courts shall adjudicate all civil cases by the first instance procedure.

19.2.Aimag and the Capital city courts shall adjudicate the civil cases by the appellate instance procedure.

19.3.The State Supreme Court shall adjudicate  the civil cases by the cassation instance procedure.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

19.4.If provided by the Law on Court of Mongolia the court of Aimag, capital city and the State Supreme court shall adjudicate the case and dispute that have a specific jurisdiction over by law as the first instance or appellate procedure. 

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007, this paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 20.Transfer of a case

20.1.If a claim has been received by a court according to the jurisdiction, it shall be adjudicated by that court. However, it may be transferred to another court during or before the court session for the following reasons, based on the statements of the parties by issuing a judicial panel decision or judge order:

20.1.1.if it is deemed that in order to adjudicate the case objectively from every side and expeditiously it is necessary for the case to be adjudicated by the court for the area where most of the evidence is situated;

20.1.2.if it is discovered that the jurisdiction is violated in receiving a claim;

20.1.3.if all judges of the court have been challenged and removed in accordance with Article 93.2 of this Law.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

20.2.If a case is under an arbitration's jurisdiction as provided by paragraph 2, Article 13 of this Law, the claim shall be returned to the plaintiff by resolution of a Court or by order of a judge.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

20.3.The Court that has received a transferred case is obliged to adjudicate it. Courts shall not dispute over the jurisdiction of a transferred case as provided in Article 20.1 of this Law.

20.4.If it deems the case transfer has no legal ground, the case shall be adjudicated in accordance with Law on Court of Mongolia by the court issuing a judicial panel decision or the judge issuing a judge order.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007, this paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 21.Procedure for transferring a case

21.1.To transfer a case from one court to another, the period for lodging a complaint against the judicial panel decision or judge order shall be expired. If a complaint is lodged, the case shall be transferred after the issuance of a court decision of the court on the complaint.

CHAPTER THREE

Case Participants

Article 22.Case participants

22.1.Litigants, a third party, their representatives or attorneys, and persons participating in the case proceedings as provided in Articles12.1.2-12.1.4 of this law shall be described as the case participants.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 18 October 2019/

22.2.A representative and an attorney of the plaintiff, a defendant and a third party are not considered as an individual participant of a civil case, but a person expressing and protecting the rights and legal interests of the principal.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 18 October 2019/

Article 23.Legal Capacity of the case participants

23.1.All parties of a case shall equally enjoy the capacity to have the rights and to be subject to the duties /legal capacity/ of the case participants.

Article 24.Legal ability of the case participants

24.1.A person with full legal ability shall have the ability to exercise his/her rights on himself/herself in the court, or perform it by the representative.

24.2.Underaged or persons aged between 14-18 years shall have a right to protect their rights, freedom and legal interests in court.

24.3.Court shall have the duty to involve the parents or guardians of the persons specified in Article 24.2 of this Law. In adjudicating cases related to underaged persons and based on the grounds provided by Article 16.3 of the Civil Law, the court shall decide whether to involve their parents or guardians.

24.4.The rights and legal interests of a person with partial or of a person deemed legally disabled as a consequence of mental illness shall be protected in court by their parent or custodian.

Article 25.Rights and duties of a case participant

25.1.A case participant shall have following rights in the case proceedings:

25.1.1.to have access to the demand, statement, and refusal of the other parties and documents evidencing it, to give statements regarding these;

25.1.2.to have access to the case materials after a judge order has been issued on hearing the case at court session and to make notes from them, and to participate in the court session;

25.1.3.to get a testimony from a witness, to request for appointing an expert and to implement actions prescribed by Article 48 of this Law, to make an evidence examined and excluded from the evidence list if there is a concern that the evidence was illegally compiled or collected, to request for adjournment of the court session based on grounds provided law;

25.1.4.to challenge judicial panel or a judge, an expert or translator, an interpreter, representative of citizens and court clerk based on the grounds provided by Article 91 of this Law;

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

25.1.5.to question other participants of court session;

25.1.6.to lodge a complaint against a court decision;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

25.1.7.to request to resolve the case through mediation in relation to all claims or one or more claims;

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

25.1.8. other rights provided by law;

/The numbering of this sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

25.2.A case participant shall have following duties in the case proceedings:

25.2.1.to give true and correct statements on the case to the court ;

25.2.2.to prove demands of the claim lodged with the court and grounds and statement for denial of or refusal to such claim, to collect and present evidence related to them;

25.2.3.to appear as summoned by court;

25.2.4.to implement requirements imposed by court;

25.2.5.to obey the rules of case proceedings and the courtroom protocol;

25.2.6.to receive, implement the court decision.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 26.Litigant

26.1.Litigants of a case shall mean the plaintiff, defendant, and other persons participating in the case with same legal rights and duties.

26.2.A plaintiff is a person who lodges a claim on behalf itself or others in order to restore the violated rights, freedom and legal interests. Plaintiff shall have the right to change the ground for the claim or the claim, to increase or reduce the size of the claim, to withdraw the claim or to settle.

26.3.A defendant is a person who is mentioned in a claim as having caused damages to the rights, freedom and legal interests of the plaintiff, or not fulfilled or duly fulfilled his/her duty. The defendant shall have the right to admit, fulfill or deny the claim, to lodge a counterclaim and or to settle.

26.4.The litigants shall have equal rights in the case proceedings.

Article 27.Participation of several litigants in a case

27.1.Several plaintiffs or several defendants may jointly participate in a case proceedings.

27.2.One of the co-plaintiffs or co-defendants may be entrusted to represent the others if it is considered that the co-plaintiff or co-defendant does not have conflict of interests and it is not necessary for all of them to participate and [the representation] will not negatively affect the decision of the case.

27.3.If deemed necessary, the court may involve other persons as co-plaintiffs and co-defendants in the case proceedings before issuing its decision.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 28.Replacement of the plaintiff/defendant

28.1.Where the court establishes, based on evidence, that a plaintiff does not have the right to lodge the claim or a defendant is not real defendant responsible to the claim, it may, at the request or consent of the plaintiff, replace the person who does not have the right to submit the claim with real plaintiff or the person who is not defendant with real defendant.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

28.2.If the plaintiff does not request or consent to replace her/him by other person, and such person lodges an independent claim, then he/she may be allowed to participate as a third party.

/This paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

28.3.If the plaintiff does not agree to the replacement of the defendant by another person, the court shall not replace the defendant.

/This paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

28.4.If the situation described in Article 28.1 of this Law is established during a court session, the court session shall be newly restarted after the replacement of the plaintiff/defendant.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 29.Third party

29.1.Third party lodging an independent claim regarding the disputed matter may participate in the case proceedings before court issues its decision.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

29.2.Third party lodging independent claim shall have all the rights and all the duties of a litigant.

29.3.If the court decision can negatively affect the rights and duties of a third party not making independent claims to the disputed matter, before the court decision is issued, the person may be involved in the case proceedings as a third party who has not made an independent claim, at its own initiation or at the initiative of the court or at the request of a litigant.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

29.4.Third party not making independent claims shall have the same rights and duties as a litigant, except for the right to change the grounds for claim or the claim, to increase or reduce the size of  the claim, to withdraw the claim, to admit to the claim, or to settle.

29.5.Court shall not resolve issue relating to third party who didn't make an independent claim together with the principal claim.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 30.Succession to rights in case proceedings

30.1.If any litigant of the dispute withdraws from the dispute /deceased, is considered to be missing, dissolution of a legal entity, transferred the claim or duties to others/, a court may replace the case participant with who inherits the rights at the request of an interested party and the successor. A succession of rights may take place at any stage of the case proceeding.

30.2.The successor of the rights shall have the rights and obligations of the original case participant.

Article 31.Participation in case proceedings by prosecutors, persons protecting the rights of others

31.1.If the prosecutor deems the interests of the state or the public have been violated, at the request of a state agency or on his/her own initiative, he/she shall participate on behalf of the state in the civil case proceedings in accordance with Articles 25 and 26 of this Law.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

31.2.Persons protecting the rights, freedom, and legal interests of others may participate in a civil case proceeding as provided by Article 25 of this law.

31.3.Withdrawal from participating in the civil case proceedings, or withdrawal of a claim by persons described in Articles 31.1 and 31.2 shall not ground for termination of the case proceedings.

Article 32.Representing a citizen in case proceedings

32.1.A citizen may participate in case proceedings on himself/herself or through his/her representative.

32.2.A representation shall be in the form of statutory, voluntary, or contractual.

32.3.Representation for persons legally disabled, or with partial or limited ability, and persons considered to be missing or declared as deceased shall be carried out fully by their representatives provided by law.

32.4.A citizen with full legal ability may be, on voluntary basis, represented by another person or, on contractual basis by an attorney.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

32.5.A citizen, represented by a different party other than an attorney, shall not participate in the court proceedings in person. In case that a citizen participates in person, he/she shall submit a written notice on refusal from a representative to the court.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 33.Representing a citizen as provided by law

33.1.The rights, freedom and legal interests of person who is legally disabled , or with partial or limited ability shall be represented in the Court by their parents, custodian, or guardian who are the legal representatives and they shall present to the Court documents certifying their full authorization.

33.2.In a case where a person who has been considered missing shall participate, the administrator appointed to protect his/her property shall participate representing him/her.

33.3.In a case where the inheritor of a  deceased or a person who has been declared deceased shall participate, but has not accepted the inheritance, the administrator who appointed to protect the estate shall participate representing him/her.

33.4.Parents, custodian or guardians described by Article 33.1 of this Law may involve representatives chosen by them in the case proceedings.

Article 34.Participation of attorneys in case proceedings, their rights and duties

34.1.Power of representation of an attorney to participate in the case proceedings shall be determined by the request of the party receiving legal assistance.

34.2.In representing a citizen or legal entity, on contractual basis, the attorney shall take all measures specified by law to protect the rights, freedom and legal interests of the person being represented and is obliged to provide required legal assistance and to assist in determining the objective facts of the case.

34.3.An attorney shall have the following rights in the case proceedings:

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

/This paragraph was modified according to the law as of 18 October 2019/

34.3.1.to collect evidence and present them;

34.3.2.to question a witness, to request for the appointment of an expert;

34.3.3.to submit a request to the court to collect documents necessary for legal assistance from citizens, legal entities, and units that have no legal status, and to use audio, video, and audio-video recording tools to strengthen evidence;

34.3.4.to consult professional body, natural person, and legal entity on matters requiring specialized knowledge;

34.3.5.to submit a complaint related to the proceedings;

34.3.6.to submit statement on the client's position;

34.3.7.to present the client's claim and denial, its evidence and grounds;

34.3.8.to have access to the evidence, claim, denial and statements provided by the opposing party and other participants, and submit statements to them;

34.3.9.to have access to the evidence of the case, and copy the necessary materials at his/her own expense;

34.3.10.to request for adjournment of the court session and for other matters;

34.3.11.to be provided with adequate time and conditions for preparation for advocacy;

34.3.12.to participate in the court session;

34.3.13.to disqualify and remove a judge, judicial panel, representative of citizens, court clerk, expert, translator and interpreter;

34.3.14.to question the case participants, their representatives, witness, and expert;

34.3.15.to have the evidence analyzed;

34.3.16.to have access to the minutes of court hearings and other proceedings;

34.3.17.to appeal the court's decision, to lodge a complaint against the appellate court judgment in the cassation procedure;

34.3.18.to submit a request for the enforcement of legally effective civil case court decision /decision, appellate court judgment, judicial panel decision, judge order/;

34.3.19.other rights provided by law.

34.4.An attorney shall have the following duties in the case proceedings:

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 18 October 2019/

34.4.1.to strictly comply with the Constitution of Mongolia, laws, and ethical norms of attorneys and attorneys;

34.4.2.to protect the client's rights and legal interests comprehensively and consistently with every method that is not prohibited by law;

34.4.3.to refrain from acts contrary to the client's rights and legal interests;

34.4.4.to not disclose the state and official secrets, or organizational secrets, the client's confidential information or personal sensitive information which was known during the advocacy;

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

34.4.5.to participate in the court session on time unless there is a justifiable reason;

34.4.6.other obligations provided by law.

34.5.Authorization of an attorney shall be verified by the document issued by the authorized body.

/The numbering of this paragraph was amended according to the law as of 18 October 2019/

Article 35.Representing a legal entity in case proceedings

35.1.Legal entity shall participate in case proceedings through its representative.

35.2.Authorized representatives of legal entities shall present to the court document certifying his/her official position or authorizing to act as representative.

Article 36.Power of a representative, circumstances preventing representation

36.1.A representative shall carry out the activities to protect the rights, freedom and legal interests of the person being represented within the scope of law.

36.2.Power of a representative shall be determined by the power of attorney and other authorization documents compiled according to law and made in writing with the person being represented. The power of attorney shall meet requirements prescribed by Article 64.2 of the Civil Law.

36.3.Representative shall present documents certifying his/her power to the court.

36.4.The principal may withdraw, at any time, the person representing him/her at case proceedings and shall notify the court in writing. With receipt of the notice by the court, the representative's power shall be terminated.

36.5.Following person shall be prohibited from participating in case proceedings as a representative:

36.5.1.person under the age of 18 years /except in cases specially provided by law/;

36.5.2.person with partial or without full legal ability or legally disabled;

36.5.3.a judge, prosecutor, or investigator aside from cases which involved as a parent, custodian or guardian, or representing its agency in the case proceedings.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 18 May 2017/

CHAPTER FOUR

EVIDENCE

Article 37.Evidence

37.1.Evidence shall mean any factual information on which the participants of a case base their claim and objection, has significance for the Court to resolve the case, was obtained through methods prescribed by law, and is necessary to establish objective circumstances of the case.

37.2.Evidence of a case shall be established by proving tools such as statements of the litigants, third party and their representative or attorney, the testimony of witnesses, written, digital or physical evidence, documents, conclusions of experts, film and photos, paintings, audio, images, audio-video recordings, molds printed off from traces, record and notes taken during the search, experiment, identification process or the court session minutes.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

Article 38.Presenting, collecting and compiling evidence

38.1.Litigants, third parties and their representatives or attorneys shall have the duty to present and collect evidence that is the basis of their claim or objection.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

38.2.Other participants than specified in Article 38.1 of this Law may present evidence.

38.3.The Court may enforce the opposing party to present evidence at the request of a litigant.

38.4.Th case participants are prohibited to present false evidence or to collect evidence using illegal methods.

38.5.Evidence shall lose its proving capacity and shall not serve as basis for the Court decision if rules prescribed by law on presenting and collecting evidence have been violated.

38.6.Court shall compile evidence at the request of the case participants in such circumstances when the evidence inevitably required for adjudicating the case is related to the state and official secrets, or organizational secret, personal sensitive information, or impossible to obtain for a litigant because it is located in another country or local region, or shall be obtained through experiment, search, identification, testimony of witnesses.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

38.7.Evidence shall be presented before the court session of the first instance begins.

38.8.Even if one party withdraws evidence presented to Court, the opposing party has the right to refer to the evidence.

38.9.The Court shall have the right to adjourn the court session for one time if new evidence is required during the court session, to exclude from the evidence or to reject to obtaining a document which is irrelevant to the case, or insignificant to prove or not allowed by law; and in these cases the court shall issue a judicial panel decision, and judge shall issue an order.

38.10.Costs incurred by Court in compiling evidence shall be included in Court expenses.

Article 39.Compiling evidence abroad

39.1.If it is necessary to compile evidence abroad, it may be addressed to the relevant organization by the court itself or through an authorized agency, at the request of a litigant.

39.2.Procedures on responding to a court request shall be regulated by the treaty on mutual legal assistance with the corresponding country; if such a treaty does not exist, it may be negotiated through diplomatic channels.

39.3.Case proceedings shall be suspended in the case set out in Article 39.1 of this Law.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 40.Evaluation of evidence

40.1.Court shall evaluate the evidence presented by the case participants with its own free conviction after comparing it objectively from every side.

40.2.Evidence shall be evaluated for its relevance, materiality, credibility, and certainty.

40.3.For Courts, no evidence shall be prior established as being fixed truth.

40.4.If a fact material to adjudicating a case has already been established by a legally effective court decision or a publicly known fact, then it shall not be proven again.

40.5.If evidence that is not presented to a first instance court, presented at the appellate and the cassation instance court, the court shall not evaluate it. However, this shall not apply if a court decision is to be reviewed due to newly discovered fact.

Article 41.Court instruction and its implementation

41.1.If it is inevitably necessary to compile evidence in another region of the country, the judge may issue an order and instruct the relevant court to take certain procedural actions, at the request of a litigant.

41.2.In the order set out in Article 41.1 of this Law, a brief description of the case and the evidence required to be compiled shall be indicated, and the term for carrying out the instruction shall be specified, and the case proceedings shall be suspended.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

41.3.Court that has received the court instruction shall carry it out within the specified term.

41.4.The records kept during carrying out the court instruction and all materials compiled shall be sent within the specified term to the court adjudicating the case.

Article 42.Statement by litigants

42.1.Statement presented by litigants to court shall conform to substantive truth.

42.2.In relation to a litigant's statement and evidence which were presented, the opposing party may present its own statement with evidence.

42.3.By presenting an statement specified in Article 42.2 of this Law, a litigant may admit fully or partially the demands of claims presented by another party.

42.4.Failure to object to one party's statement by opposing party or to give statement within the term specified by law shall be considered as admittance of such statement.

Article 43.Testimony of witnesses

43.1.Any person who is aware of the circumstances significant to adjudicating the case may be a witness.

43.2.The Court shall summon a witness and obtain testimony at the request of a case participant.

43.3.A person summoned in the capacity of a witness shall appear in Court and give truthful testimony. If he/she refused or evaded testimony or gave intentional false testimony shall be subject to sanctions provided by Criminal Law.

43.4.For a witness who is unable to be present at the court for a justifiable reason, the testimony may be obtained from the place where he/she is residing.

43.5.If a witness fails to appear in Court without justifiable reasons, the Court may instruct the police authority to enforce its call  and direct the witness to cover related expenses.

/This paragraph was amended according to the laws as of 5 July 2013 and 21 July 2016/

43.6.If there is serious discrepancy in testimonies of witnesses, it is possible to obtain testimonies while making them confront each other. In obtaining testimonies from witnesses during confrontation judge shall ask the witnesses if they know each other and what kind of relationship they are in. Then testimonies regarding the subject matter to be clarified shall be obtained from the witnesses in turn. After hearing their testimonies, the judge may question the witnesses. Witnesses in confrontation shall not question each other.

43.7.Spouses, parents, and children of litigants may be testified if consented to testify themselves. In this case they shall have the rights and duties of a witness.

43.8.The following persons shall not be called as a witness and their testimony cannot be obtained:

43.8.1.a mediator, representative of litigant or the attorney of the criminal case who became aware of the circumstances through carrying out their duties;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

43.8.2.a legally disabled person.

Article 44.Written evidence

44.1.Written evidence means evidence material to the case adjudication in the written form.

44.2.Written evidence shall be submitted to the court in original form, or a notarized copy if the original is impossible to be presented. If the court deems it necessary, it shall have the right to demand the original copy of the evidence. If it is difficult to demand and obtain written evidence, the court may examine and analyze it at the stored place at the request of a litigant.

44.3.After the Court has issued its decision, original documents may be returned to the persons who submitted them, at their request. However, a certified copy of the document shall be kept in the case file.

44.4.A state agency, non-governmental organization, and legal entity shall verify written evidence by putting its respective archive's "true copy" stamp.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 25 June 2009/

44.5.A court shall comply with Article 38 of the Law on Archives and Official Matters when evaluating digital documents.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

Article 45.Physical evidence

45.1.Physical evidence means any object material to establishment of the circumstances for the case adjudication.

45.2.Physical evidence shall be kept in the case file or deposited under a separately registered inventory in a special facility or container. Objects which cannot be brought and kept in Court, shall be examined at the place where they are located, and records shall be made on the examination. If necessary, the objects may be documented by taking their photos, images, video, and sound recording and attached to the file or they may be sealed. Food products and other objects of perishable nature shall be promptly examined by Court, upon informing the participants of the case. After the examination they shall be returned to the persons from whom they were obtained, unless otherwise provided by law.

45.3.If necessary, physical evidence may be preserved by its holder, or the Governors of relevant Bag or Khoroo, or court decision enforcement agency, police agency or their officers. Persons who have received the physical evidence is obliged to preserve it in its regular condition.

45.4.Upon expiration of terms specified in Article 120.2 of this law and unless otherwise provided by law, physical evidence shall be returned to the holder. However, photos, images, video and sound recording of the physical evidence shall be kept in the case file.

Article 46.Presenting written and physical evidence

46.1.Persons and legal entities shall present written and physical evidence required by Court within a term specified by the Court. If they are not able to present  the required written and physical evidence due to a justifiable reason, they shall notify the Court.

46.2.Faulty officers and citizens who have failed to carry out the requirements specified in Article 46.1 of this Law without justifiable reasons shall be subject to liabilities provided in respective  legislation.

46.3.At the request of a litigant, the relevant citizens and legal entities and its officers are obliged to provide evidence which is inevitably required for adjudicating the case, other than those related to state and official secrets, organizational secrets, and personal sensitive information, which are necessary for handling the case.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

46.4.If refuses to provide the evidence specified in Article 46.3 of this Law without a justifiable reason, it shall be enforced.

Article 47.Expert, his/her rights and duties, expert's conclusion

47.1.For clarification of the matters required for adjudicating a case that requires special knowledge in the fields such as science, calculation, accounting, art, literature, and technology, the judge may appoint an expert at the request of the case participants, or at the initiation of court.

/This paragraph was amended according to the laws as of 3 August 2007 and 3 December 2009/

47.2.In analyzing and drawing conclusions, experts shall comply with the rules in the Law on Court Forensics.

/This paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

/This paragraph was amended according to the laws as of 23 December 2022/

47.3.Expert, if he/she is appointed by an organization then on behalf of it, in other cases on his/her behalf shall provide a conclusion based on results of conducted appraisal and shall be responsible for its objectivity.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.4.If necessary judge may appoint several experts and if they have a common opinion, they shall provide a single conclusion and all shall sign it. If any one experts does not agree with the conclusions of other experts he/she may provide a separate conclusion.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.5.In cases when there is a need to re-appoint an expert, the expert who previously took part in providing conclusion on the case, shall not participate again.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007 and was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.6.Expert is obliged to appear by the Court subpoena and give an objective response to the questions put. If an expert deliberately provides a false conclusion, he/she shall be subject to penalty specified by the Criminal Code.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.7.An expert may refuse to provide a conclusion if the materials furnished to him/her are inadequate or if the expert does not possess the necessary knowledge to perform the duties imposed on him/her.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.8.If considered necessary, expert may request the Court to have access him/herself with the materials of the case, and to supply with additional materials.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.9.Expert shall provide his/her conclusion in writing. The expert's conclusion shall contain a detailed description of the appraisal conducted and the conclusions made on the basis of it, and substantiated answers to the questions put by the Court.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

47.10.If, new circumstances significant to the case are discovered, an expert shall be entitled to include this in his/her conclusions even if no questions in respect of this have been put to him/her by the Court.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 3 December 2009/

Article 48.Other proceedings related with adjudicating a case

48.1.To clarify circumstances significant to adjudicating a case, the Court shall carry out proceedings for search, experiment and identification with presence of not less than two external witnesses and participation of the participants of the case and a note shall be made on this and all participants shall sign the note. Failure to appear at the proceedings by participants of the case shall not impede the proceedings.

48.2.A person without any personal and official interests in the case, and with full legal ability shall participate as external witness. External witness is obliged to confirm the process, content and results of the proceedings carried out in his/her presence. External witness shall have the right to suggest corrections to the minutes.

48.3.If an external witness fails to fulfill the duties specified in Article 48.2 of this Law, he/she shall be subject to legal sanction.

Article 49.Translator and interpreter

49.1.If a case participant does not know the Mongolian language, or is mute, deaf or blind, the judge shall issue an order and appoint a translator and interpreter at his/her request. Other participants of the case proceedings is prohibited to perform the duties of a translator or interpreter.

49.2.Translator and interpreter is obliged to translate demands of the claim, statements, testimony and objections of the of the person or demands, statements, testimony and objections of participants, the contents of court sessions and other proceedings and the Court decision and to assist him/her to have access with the materials of the case.

49.3.Interpreter is obliged to appear in the Court as summoned; and translate or interpret objectively and correctly.

49.4.If an interpreter intentionally mistranslates or misinterprets, he/she shall be subject to sanction specified by the Criminal Law.

49.5.A translator or an interpreter appointed by the court, except a translator or an interpreter chosen by the participant of a case, shall have obtained permits for conducting translation service from an authorized organization. 

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007 and was annulled according to the law as of 20 November 2011/

Article 50.Securing evidence

50.1.If it is considered reasonable that evidence essentially required for adjudicating the case may be altered, destroyed, transferred to others, or concealed for purposes of impeding the case proceeding, the case participants may request the court adjudicating the case to secure such evidence.

50.2.The request shall be specified which evidence is necessary to secure, how significant is to prove what circumstances and the reasons to secure.

50.3.The judge shall issue an order to secure the evidence if he/she assumes that the request is well-grounded, or to refuse the request if assumed groundless.

50.4.The court order shall specify which evidence to secure, where and in whose possession it is to be located and how to secure it.

50.5.The court order stated in Article 50.3 of this Law shall be immediately implemented by the Court Decision Enforcement Agency.

Article 51.Minutes

51.1.Minutes shall be taken at the court sessions of the first and the cassation instance.  If the case participants are participating, minutes shall be taken at the court session of the appellate instance.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

51.2.Minutes shall be taken for other proceedings, including examination, experiment and confrontation.

51.3.Minutes shall comply with the requirements in Article 7.1 of this Law.

51.4.Court session minutes shall be taken by the court clerk, and by a judge or the judge's assistant during the other proceedings as assigned by the judge.

51.5.Minutes shall be specified what procedural actions were taken by whom, when and where, the time of commencement and conclusion, family name, parent's name, name and addresses of every person who took a part in or were present at the action, sequence, process and discovered circumstances of the proceeding. All persons who took a part in or were present shall read the minutes and shall be explained that they have the right to suggest corrections to the record.

51.6.All persons who conducted, took part in, or were present at the proceeding shall sign the minutes. They shall not have the right to refuse to sign.

51.7.Photos, images, and molds printed off from traces or other objects material for adjudicating the case may be attached to the minutes and it shall be specified in the minutes.

CHAPTER FIVE

Court Expenses, Stamp Duty

Article 52.Court Expenses

52.1.Court expenses mean the costs inevitably required for adjudicating a case by a court. 

52.2.The Court expenses shall be financed from the state budget.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 2 January 2003/

Article 53.Court expenses to be reimbursed

53.1.Following expenses incurred by a Court shall be reimbursed from the litigants:

53.1.1.transportation fares, accommodation rent and meal of experts and interpreters and fees for their work performed under Court and judge orders if such work does not form part of their official duties;

53.1.2.transportation fares, accommodation rent and meals, salary and fees for work of witnesses;

53.1.3.expenses incurred for conducting examination, experiment and identification;

53.1.4.expenses for storing evidence;

53.1.5.expenses incurred for travel to get a witness testimony.

Article 54.Determining amount of Court expenses to be reimbursed

54.1.Court expenses to be reimbursed shall be determined according to following procedures:

54.1.1.for transportation fares, accommodation rent and meals to be disbursed to experts and interpreters-according to an amount allowed in business trip followed in the agencies financed from the state budget;

54.1.2.for the experts and interpreters' fees by the amount paid by the Court;

54.1.3.if witnesses have sacrificed their wages for the period summoned to the Court to give testimony, by average wages for that period;

54.1.4.other expenses as specified in performance documents.

54.2.The expenses shall be paid to the state budget account specified by the Court.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 2 January 2003/

Article 55.Exemption from reimbursement of Court expenses

55.1.A litigant may be exempted from reimbursement of Court expenses by a judge order, if it is established by his/her statement and other evidence that he/she is insolvent or based on other grounds provided by law.

55.2.The Court or the judge may reduce the reimbursement amount of the court expense, defer its payment, or allow installment payment depending on the financial position of a person.

Article 56.Distribution of Court expenses to be reimbursed

56.1.The Court expenses shall be reimbursed from the defendant if the claim was fully satisfied or from the plaintiff if the claim was dismissed.

56.2.If some part of the claim is satisfied, court expenses shall be distributed by the plaintiff and defendant on a pro-rata basis.

56.3.The first instance court decision was changed on the appellate and the cassation instance court, the distribution of the court expenses shall be changed as well.

56.4.Unless otherwise agreed by the plaintiff and defendant regarding the distribution of the court expenses, the court shall determine it under regulations in this Law.

56.5.If a plaintiff withdraws a claim, the defendant shall not reimburse the court expenses. If a plaintiff withdraws the claim because of the acceptance and satisfaction of the claim by the defendant, the court expenses to be paid by the defendant shall be cut by fifty percent.

Article 57.Stamp duty

57.1.Monetary assets paid by the litigants for the Court services rendered with respect to adjudicating legal disputes are the stamp duty. The stamp duty shall be paid by the plaintiff beforehand and if the claim is met then the defendant shall pay the sum which shall be reimbursed to the plaintiff. The stamp duty shall be paid as specified in this Law.

57.2.Amount of the stamp duty to be paid with respect to adjudicating a case through Courts shall be regulated by the Law on the Stamp Duty.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

57.3.Issues on reimbursement, recover of and exemption from the stamp duty shall be adjudicated by relevant provisions of the Law on Stamp duty and Articles 58 and 59 of this Law.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

57.4.Person appealing against the decision of court of first instance or appellate court judgment shall pay the stamp duty in the amount that he/she does not accept the decision or judgment.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 58.Reimbursement of the stamp duty and exemption from the duty

58.1. If it is difficult to fix the amount involved in a claim at the time of its being brought, the amount of the stamp duty shall be provisionally determined by the judge, and after the decision on the case an adjusting payment of duty shall be paid in conformity with the value put on the claim by the Court or if the previous payment was excessive then the difference shall be reimbursed.

58.2.In the event of an increase of the amount of a claim, the amount of the stamp duty shall be increased according to the increase in the value of the claim.

58.3.A plaintiff may be exempted from payment of the stamp duty if it is established by his/her statement and other evidence that he/she is insolvent or based on other grounds provided by law.

58.4.Depending on the financial and other position of a litigant, amount of the stamp duty to be reimbursed may be decreased or allowed to be paid by installments.

Article 59.Refunding of the stamp duty

59.1.If the Court rejected to receive a claim, then by order of a judge the stamp duty shall be refunded to the plaintiff in the amount paid.

59.2.If a person lodged a complaint on the appellate procedure withdraws its complaint before the court session, the relevant level judge shall deem the complaint has not been lodged and shall issue an order to refund the stamp duty paid at the time of complaint lodgment.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

59.3.If the appellate instance court find the complaint by litigants, third party and their representative or attorney is well-grounded and nullified or changed the court decision, the stamp duty paid at the time of complaint lodgment shall be refunded by the relevant level judge order.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

59.4.If the plaintiff withdraws from claim on the ground that the defendant voluntarily accepted and fulfilled the claim pursuant to Article 56.5 of this Law, the 50 per cent of stamp duty paid by plaintiff shall be refunded.

/This paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

59.5.In cases where the plaintiff reduces the amount claimed, or case proceedings were terminated pursuant to Article 106.5 of this Law as the plaintiff withdraws from claim in the case other than that set out in Article 59.4 of this Law or litigants settled, the stamp duty shall not be refunded.

/This paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

59.6.If the claim is returned by the court in accordance with Article 100.2 of this Law, the stamp duty shall become state revenue.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 60.Distribution of the stamp duty

60.1.Matters of dividing the stamp duty among the litigants liable shall be regulated similar to the rules provided in Article 56 of this Law.

 PART II

PROCEDURES FOR THE FIRST INSTANCE COURT CASE PROCEEDINGS

CHAPTER SIX

Filing a Claim and its Receipt

Article 61.Form of a claim

61.1.A claim shall be lodged in writing and signed by the plaintiff or a person representing it in the case proceedings.

Article 62.The contents of a claim

62.1.A claim shall contain the following:

62.1.1.the title of the court in which the claim is lodged;

62.1.2.the family name, father's name and first name of the plaintiff, place of residence, or, if it is a legal entity, title, address and the place where it is situated;

62.1.3.the family name, father's name and first name of the defendant, place of residence, or, if it is a legal entity, title, address and the place where it is situated;

62.1.4.basis and demand of the claim, and the evidence proving them;

62.1.5.the value of the claim;

62.1.6.a list of documents attached to the claim.

62.2.Attached to the claim shall be the document proving payment of the stamp duty, if the duty should be waived then a letter requesting for it and if the claim is lodged by a representative then the power of attorney letter.

62.3.A claim shall be copied according to the number of defendants and presented to them.

Article 63.Valuation of a claim

63.1.Value of a claim is determined as follows:

63.1.1.in claims to recover money, by the sum of money claimed for;

63.1.2.in claims to regain property, by the value of the claimed property;

63.1.3.in claims consisting of several independent demands, by the total sum of all claims.

63.1.4.in claims demanding to annul contracts and agreements, by the total amount of the contract or agreement;

63.1.5.in claims to recover payments of pensions, benefits, supports, damages or compensations to be made by installments for a fixed term, by the total sum of the payments per annum.

63.1.6.in claims to recover immovable property, by the total value as registered at the Immovable Property Registration Agency;

63.1.7.damages to name, reputation, psyche, and business reputation by the sum specified in the claim;

/This paragraph was amended according to the laws as of 23 December 2022/

63.1.8.in claims with respect to securities by then current rate at the stock exchange;

63.1.9.in claims related to permits or tenders by the value of the permit or the tender fees.

/In this sub-paragraph, the part "special" was removed according to the law as of 17 June 2022, and it shall enter into force on 1 January 2023/

63.2.Foreign currency rate shall be calculated at then official exchange rate announced by the Mongolbank and the value of a property by the amount proven.

Article 64.Receiving a claim

64.1.A claim shall be received by administrative officer of the court and the number of pages of the claim and attached materials, date, hour, and minute shall be recorded and certified in the claim. It shall be recorded on logbook according to the order entered in the record.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 65.Refusal to receive a claim

65.1.A judge shall refuse to receive a claim in the following cases:

65.1.1.jurisdiction of a case specified in Article 13 of this Law is violated;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

65.1.2.jurisdiction of a court specified in Articles 14, 15, 16 and 19 of this Law is violated;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

65.1.3.if the plaintiff has failed to follow preliminary and alternative dispute resolution procedures provided by law and it is possible to apply the procedure;

65.1.4.if the plaintiff is a person without full legal ability;

65.1.5.the claim was lodged by a person having no authority to represent the plaintiff;

65.1.6.if there is a legally effective court or arbitration decision, judicial panel decision or a judge order on the fact or liability of the litigants mentioned in the claim, or refusing to receive the claim, or on dismissal of the case;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

65.1.7.another case on the disputed matter and the grounds for the dispute between the litigants is being adjudicated by a Court;

65.1.8.the case related to the claim is being investigated through criminal procedures;

65.1.9.the defendant's address is indefinite;

65.1.10.in cases when a litigant has deceased or a legal entity has been liquidated, the demand in dispute or disputed obligation is not transferred to a successor of the rights;

65.1.11.if requirements provided in Article 62 of this Law have not been met.

65.2.A judge shall state in his/her order described in Article 65.1 of this Law, how to present the claim or how to exclude the circumstances preventing it being received.

Article 66.Instituting a case

66.1.If a judge deems that there is no ground described in Article 65.1 of this Law, he/she shall, within seven days from the date of receiving the claim, issue an order on instituting a case.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

66.2.If the Court decided the matters of exempting from the stamp duty or reducing it or payment of it in installments or deferral by the request of the plaintiff, it shall be stated in the order instituting the case.

Article 67.Proceedings of the judge who instituted a case

67.1.The judge who received the claim and instituted the case shall conduct the following procedures:

67.1.1.to introduce the litigants, third parties and their representatives or attorneys their obligation to present and prove themselves the evidence proving their demands or objections and to explain their rights;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

67.1.2.to hand over a claim to the defendant;

67.1.3.if the court deems a request by a participant of a case to have grounds, the actions specified in Article 38.6 of this Law shall be carried out;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

67.1.4.to provide all necessary information on mediation process and remind that it is possible to settle and get assistance from a mediator at all stages of court proceedings;

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

67.1.5.to obtain a reference and inquiry from the relevant organizations regarding the assets, income, and property rights of the defendant.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 9 June 2017/

/This sub-paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 12 April 2018/

Article 68.Consolidation and splitting of several demand of a claim

68.1.A plaintiff may consolidate in a single claim several interconnected demands. If it is considered appropriate to split a single or several demands from the demands consolidated in a claim they may be split by a judge order.

68.2.If it is considered appropriate to split a single or several demands from the demands consolidated in a claim lodged by several plaintiffs or against several defendants, they may be split by a judge order.

68.3.In cases when one litigant is participating in several similar case proceedings of a Court or if it is considered that adjudicating several cases in consolidation where one plaintiff lodged claims against different defendants or different plaintiffs lodged claims against one defendant will make possible to resolve the case more expeditiously and properly, they may be consolidated by a judge order.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 69.Securing implementation of Court decision

69.1.A judge may take following measures to secure implementation of Court decision upon or after instituting a case at the request of a plaintiff by issuing an order:

69.1.1.to impose freeze injunction on an asset or money belonging to the defendant for the sum equal to sum of a claim;

69.1.2.to prohibit the defendant from doing certain actions related to its property, for the sum equal to sum of a claim;

69.1.3.to impose freeze injunction on expenditure transaction of defendant's account, for the sum equal to sum of a claim;

69.1.4.to require an advance payment of money on the claim into Court decision enforcement deposit account;

69.1.5.to instruct to do or not to do a certain action to the defendant.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

69.2.The judge may simultaneously take several measures indicated in Article 69.1 of this Law.

69.3.A judge shall warn a plaintiff regarding Article 70.3 of this Law, when taking measures specified in Article 69.1 of this Law.

69.4.Upon request of a plaintiff a judge may substitute one measure specified in Article 69.1 of this Law for another. The defendant may transfer the amount that were claimed, to the deposit account for the enforcement of the decision in order to replace the measures taken for the case of the claim for monetary payment.

69.5.When taking measures specified in Article 69.1 of this Law, the court shall not cause consequences such as interruption of regular production and service activities, closure of an income source or deterioration or loss of quality.

Article 70.Enforcement of measures to secure implementation of decisions to be issued by the Court and compensation of damages caused from it

70.1.A judge order on taking measures to secure implementation of the court decision shall be fulfilled from the date of issuing an order through enforcement of the court decision.

70.2.The measures taken to secure court decision are maintained until the period specified in Article 120.2 of this Law expires or if lodged a complaint in appellate and cassation procedure, until the complaint is adjudicated.

70.3.If the claim is dismissed, the defendant may make a claim to the court on damages caused by the actions specified in Article 69.1 of this Law.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 71.Term for case proceedings

71.1.If not otherwise specified by law a case shall be adjudicated within 60 days from the date of its institution. If a case was returned for reconsideration by Courts of appeal and cassation instances, a judge shall adjudicate the case within 30 days from the date of its receipt.

71.2.The period specified in Article 71.1 of this Law may be extended once for 30 days by Judge Council of the Court.

71.3.Court may establish other terms during the case proceedings within the term specified in Article 71.1 of this Law.

71.4.A procedure specified in the Civil Law shall be applied on counting and determining of the term.

71.5.Court shall set the timeframe for mediation process, which takes place after the initiation of a civil case, in accordance with Article 20.2 of the Law on Mediation.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 72.Handing over a claim to a defendant

72.1.A claim shall be handed over to a defendant within seven days in the capital city, 14 days in the rural areas after the date of instituting a case.

72.2.A defendant shall submit to the court within 14 days after receipt of a claim or within a period determined by a court, evidence proving grounds for admitting or denying the claim's demand.

72.3.If the defendant failed to perform its duties specified in Article 72.2 of this Law after its receipt of the claim or non-appearance in the court to give his statement after being notified in conformity with procedures set forth in Article 77 of this Law, the Court shall consider it as an acceptance of the claim and shall resolve the case in the absence of the defendant as provided in Article 100.3 of this Law.

72.4.The defendant shall be warned of such consequences specified in Article 72.3 of this Law when handing over the claim and the summons.

Article 73.Counterclaim

73.1.A defendant has a right to lodge a counterclaim before the adjudication of the case in the court session, to be adjudicated together with the main. The counterclaim shall satisfy the requirements specified in Article 62 of this Law.

73.2.If the demands on the counterclaim can offset by the main claim, the court shall adjudicate the counterclaim together with the main claim. In other cases, the court shall decide whether to adjudicate them together.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

73.3.In case of lodging the counterclaim the stamp duty shall be paid in advance in conformity with the procedures and in the same amount set forth for regular claims.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Adjudicating Cases through Summary proceeding

Article 74.Adjudicating cases through summary proceeding

74.1.The case shall be adjudicated through summary proceeding in case of plaintiff's withdrawal from his/her claim, acceptance of the claim by the defendant, settlement by litigants, or satisfaction by the defendant of the claim from the period instituting a case and until the court session.

74.2.If it deems possible to adjudicate a case through summary proceeding, the judge shall issue an order dismissing the case and confirming plaintiff's withdrawal from his/her claim, defendant's acceptance of the claim, settlement of the litigants and satisfaction of claim's demand by the defendant.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

74.3.The litigants shall conclude an agreement, in writing, on plaintiff's withdrawal from his/her claim, defendant's acceptance of the claim, settlement of the litigants and satisfaction of claim's demand by the defendant and shall certify this agreement by their signatures.

74.4.In case of adjudicating a case through summary proceeding, a litigant shall not have a right to appeal in appellate or cassation procedure and shall not have a right to lodge a claim to the Court of first instance on that particular matter.

74.5.In case of adjudicating a case through summary proceeding, the stamp duty shall be discounted by half and shall be paid in conformity with procedures set forth in this Law.

74.6.In case of  settlement by the litigants, they may come to an agreement regarding total amount of the claim's demand or its certain portion and conclude a mediation agreement before a Court. The settlement agreement shall come into effect upon setting in writing the contents of it, accepting and signing it by the litigants. The mediation agreement shall comply with law and shall not affect legal interests of third parties.

Article 741 .Approval process of Mediation agreement which made with the assistance of a mediator

741.1.Based on the request for mediation, made by the parties or the litigants' acceptance of the court recommendation for mediation, the Judge shall transfer the claim to a mediator and issue an order concerning this transfer. 

741.2.A mediator of the court of the given instance shall carry out mediation process for the claim, transferred as specified in Clause 741.1 of this Law.

741.3.Mediation agreement shall be made in a written form and signed by the parties prior to being delivered to the Judge.

741.4.The Mediation agreement shall be compliant with the Civil Law and not violate any legal interests of a third party.

741.5.If the judge transferred the claim to the mediation mediator before institution of a civil case and the parties settled, the judge shall issue an order, approving the Mediation Agreement.

741.6.In case of litigants' mediation following the judge's transfer of claim to the mediation mediator after institution of a civil case, the judge shall resume suspension of the case proceedings and approve the mediation agreement and issue order to dismiss the case.

741.7.After receiving a mediation agreement, the judge shall review and approve it within a week. If the agreement is deemed to be unclear, vague, or is in violation with the paragraph 741.4 of this Law, the judge shall issue an Order refusing to approve the mediation agreement.

741.8.Judge's approval order of mediation agreement shall meet the requirements, specified in the Article 75 of this Law. If the litigants fail to voluntarily fulfill the order, they shall be enforced to follow the order in the same way as a court decision.

741.9.If the litigants were settled through mediation process, the litigants, their representatives and attorneys shall not have the right to appeal in appellate or cassation procedure, or to re-lodge a claim to the Court of first instance on that particular matter.

741.10.If mediation efforts were unsuccessful, following the transfer of a claim to the mediator after institution of a civil case, the mediator shall transfer the claim to the court. The judge shall receive the claim, resume the suspended court proceedings and adjudicate the case through regular procedure.

741.11.An Order of refusal, issued in line with the Article 741.7, shall not prevent from resuming the mediation process.

741.12.If the mediator was applied by both or one of the litigants, all provisions except Articles 741.6 and 741.10, herein, shall be applied.

/Article 741 was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 75.Judge order on adjudicating a case through summary proceedings

75.1.A judge order on adjudicating the case through summary proceedings shall consist of introduction, background, foundation, and ordering parts.

75.2.The introduction part of the order shall specify when, where, and which Court issues the order, the judge, and the litigants.

75.3.The background part of the order shall contain the contents of statements of the litigants of the case regarding plaintiff's withdrawal from his/her claim, defendant's acceptance of the claim,  settlement of the litigants and satisfaction of the claim's demand by the defendant.

75.4.The foundation part of the order shall indicate the evidence on which the Court's conclusions are based, the documents certified in writing with reference to plaintiff's withdrawal from his/her claim, defendant's acceptance of the claim,  settlement of the litigants and satisfaction of the claim's demand by the defendant, the mediation agreements, the outcome of mediation process and others.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

75.5.The ordering part of the decision shall specify, in detail, the applied law, and its provisions by which the Court was guided, and shall specify if the plaintiff withdrew his/her claim, or defendant accepted the claim, or litigants came to  settlement or the defendant satisfied the claim's demand and shall indicate resolution of issues such as payment of the stamp duty and Court costs.

75.6.If the defendant did not implement the order voluntarily it shall be enforced as any decision of the Court.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Preparing for a Court Session

Article 76.Actions taken by the judge for the preparation of a court session

76.1.A judge shall conduct the following actions in the preparation of a case for court session:

76.1.1.to issue an order to hear the case at a session of the Court and set a date and place for the court session if considered that evidence significant to the case is sufficiently compiled or on expiry of terms indicated in Article 71.1 of this Law, or in any other cases which he/she considers necessary;

76.1.2.to notify the participants of the court session regarding the date and place of the court session to be held by the summons.

76.2.A litigant is obliged to inquire the Court of the date and place for the court session.

Article 77.Summons

77.1.Litigants and a person who shall be summoned to the court session shall be delivered the summons specifying when and where the court session will be held at their residential or work address. The legal consequences of failure to appear in court session and that the case may be adjudicated in their absence as set forth in Article 100 of this Law shall be stated.

77.2.Court summons shall be delivered by certified mail or by a court employee in person to the litigants at the residential or work address. If necessary, the summons may be made by phone, fax, electronic and media devices. Summons shall be documented.

77.3.If the summons is delivered by post, the court shall record the name and address of the recipient, and the date of dispatch, and shall affix the signature of the court or postal clerk.

77.4.Depending on the location, the court may instruct another person to personally deliver the summons.

77.5.The summons shall be handed over to the designated person, signed, and recorded the date and time of delivery. The summons to be given to the legal entity shall be handed over to the executive officer and relevant employee, signed, and recorded the date and time of handover.

77.6.If the person who shall be handed over the summons is not present at his/her residential or work address, the summons shall be handed over to the adult person who lives with him/her, or to the Governor of the Soum, Bag, or Khoroo or to its administrative office and shall be signed.

77.7.If the relevant person refuses to receive the summons, it shall be recorded on the summons and returned to the court. This does not prevent the case proceedings.

77.8.If the case participant changes their address during the case proceedings, they are obliged to inform the court about this. If the change of address is not informed, the summons shall be delivered to the address registered with the court and handed over to the person or officer provided in Articles 77.6 of this Law, and it shall be deemed delivered.

77.9.If the case participant who received the summons does not appear in court without a justifiable reason, and it is deemed necessary to be present, the judge shall enforce him/her to appear and charge with legal sanction.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

77.10.The enforcement of the summoning of litigants and case participants shall be implemented by police authority based on the judge order.

/This paragraph was amended according to the laws as of 5 July 2013 and 21 July 2016/

Article 78.Appointing a judge, panel and the chair of the court session

78.1.The Judge Council of a Court shall appoint a judge, panel and the chair of the court session who adjudicates the cases for a certain period of time such as year or half year, on the basis of a schedule.

78.2.In the event when a judge who is appointed according to the schedule is not able to participate at the court session, a judge who replaces him/her shall be appointed in conformity with procedures set forth in Article 78.1 of this Law.

78.3.Judge Council shall be presided by the Chief Judge. All questions arising on the conference shall be decided by a majority vote and if there is a tie, the matter is adjudicated by the vote of the Chief Judge. Quorum of the conference shall be met if two third of judges are present at the conference and all judges shall have equal rights.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

78.4.The Chief Judge shall adjudicate cases in accordance with a schedule, on a same basis as per other judges.

78.5.On every occasion when it became impossible to adjudicate cases as provided in paragraphs Articles 78.1 and 78.2 of this law due to an increase of workload of a judge for that particular year or due to increase or decrease in the number of judges, the Chief Judge shall convene a Judge Council.

78.6.If the panel is not sufficient for adjudicating the cases, upon the consultation with chief judge of the other courts of same level and by the order of chief judge of the court concerned, judge shall be appointed to adjudicate the case.

/This paragraph was added according to the law as of 13 May 2016/

Article 79.Appointing a representative of citizens

79.1.A representative of citizens shall participate in the court session according to the Law on Courts.

79.2.A representative of citizens who will participate in that particular court session shall be appointed in accordance with a schedule set forth by the Judge Council specified in Article 78 of this law.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

Article 80.Suspending case proceedings

80.1.Case proceedings shall be suspended in the following cases by a judicial panel decision or a judge order:

80.1.1.if a litigant is deceased or a legal entity is liquidated and the disputed claim or obligations shall be transferred to a successor;

80.1.2.if it is necessity to appoint a custodian for a litigant;

80.1.3.a litigant is serving in the military forces under the conditions of a declared state of emergency or war;

80.1.4.the case cannot be adjudicated before a criminal, civil, administrative, or arbitration case or dispute is being adjudicated;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

80.1.5.where the litigant is under a treatment due to serious illness;

80.1.6.it is necessary to search for defendant;

80.1.7.an opinion is submitted to the Supreme Court regarding the law to be applied in the case proceeding is not in conformity with the Constitution of Mongolia;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

80.1.8.carrying out the process specified in Articles 39, 41 and 47 of this Law;

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

80.1.9.if the mediation process is to be conducted.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

80.2.It is prohibited to suspend case proceedings for other reasons than specified in Article 80.1 of this Law.

80.3.As soon as the reason for suspending the proceedings is removed, the judge shall issue an order to resume the proceedings at the request of the participant or on his/her own initiative, and the period of the proceedings shall continue to count from this date.

80.4.If the reason for suspending the proceedings is not removed within the time specified by the judge, the judge shall issue an order to resume the proceedings and dismiss the case; and the reasons for suspension of the case proceedings and how the reason may be removed shall be indicated in the order.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

CHAPTER NINE

Judicial Panel, Participants of the Court sessions and

General  Procedures for Court Sessions

Article 81.Judicial panel

81.1.All cases shall be adjudicated with a panel of three judges except in cases where a sole judge shall adjudicate a case in first instance procedure.

Article 82.Cases to be adjudicated by a single judge

82.1.A single judge shall adjudicate the legal disputes provided by the following articles, paragraphs and subparagraph of laws:

82.1.1.Articles 8.1.1, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.6-8.1.8 of the Civil Law;

82.1.2.dispute arose out of labor relations;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

82.1.3.disputes arising due to family law relations;

82.1.4.disputes arising due to pension relations;

82.1.5.dispute arose out of support relations;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

82.1.6.Articles 74 and133 of this law;

82.1.7.if the law provided for the Court to impose monetary fines;

82.1.8.cases and legal disputes placed under Court jurisdictions by other laws.

Article 83.Judge or judicial panel not to be replaced

83.1.During the process of the court session a case shall be adjudicated by the same single judge or the same panel. If it became impossible for any one member of the panel to participate in a court session, the panel shall be replaced by another panel by an order of the Chief Judge of that Court and according to procedures set forth in Article 78 of this Law and the case shall be adjudicated anew.

Article 84.Grounds for preventing a judge from re-engagement in adjudication of a case

84.1.A judge who participated in the adjudication of a civil case at first, appellate or cassation instance shall not participate in the adjudication of the same case or dispute at different instance.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

84.2. A judge who is a family member or a relative of a judge who participated in the adjudication of a case at first, appellate or cassation instance shall not participate in the adjudication of the same case at different instance.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 85.Participants of the court session

85.1.Participants of the court session are the participants of the case, experts, witnesses, the court clerk and representative of citizens.

Article 86.Representatives of citizens, his/her rights and duties

86.1.Up to three representatives of a citizens shall be allowed to participate in court sessions which adjudicates cases by a judicial panel through procedures of the first instance.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

86.2.Representative of citizens shall have following rights and duties in case adjudicating:

86.2.1.to have access to the materials of the case, and take notes;

86.2.2.to participate in the analysis of evidence, to submit a request to disqualify a judge, expert, translator, interpreter, or court clerk on the grounds specified in Article 91 of this Law;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

86.2.3.to question a litigant, a third party, and their representative, an attorney, a witness, an expert;

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

86.2.4.to submit an opinion on the facts and liability of the litigants in writing;

86.2.5.to not to miss the court session on the schedule adopted by the Judge Council;

86.2.6.to not disclose state and official secrecy, the secrecy of an organization, and personally sensitive information that was entrusted and informed;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 17 December 2021/

86.2.7.to obey the courtroom protocol stipulated in this Law.

86.3.The opinion of the representative of citizens indicated in Article 86.2.4 of this Law with respect to facts of a case and liability of the litigants shall be read and heard at the court session.

Article 87.Court clerk

87.1.Court clerks shall perform actions such as preparation of rooms and halls for court sessions, checking appearance at the court session and reporting it to a panel, to document Court proceedings by taking hearing minutes of it, voice and video recordings of hearing, delivering Court decision, issuing and delivering enforcement note, putting in order the cases, filing of the cases and transferring the case to archive.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 88.Court sessions

88.1.Cases shall be adjudicated only at court sessions except in cases of adjudicating it through summary proceedings.

Article 89.Chair of the court session and his/her rights and duties

89.1.The court hearing shall be chaired by a judge who is assigned by the court's Judge Council.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

89.2.The chair of the court session of the court session shall take measures to ensure the case proceedings are conducted according to law, the parties fulfill their rights and duties, and adversary principles and the courtroom protocol is obeyed.

Article 90.General procedure for court sessions

90.1.All persons in the Courtroom, shall respect the Court, obey the rules established at the Courtroom, and comply with the decisions of the chair of the court session.

90.2.Persons participating in the court sessions shall rise from its seat when giving his/her statements, testimony, and opinions. At the permission of the chair of the court session, the persons participating in the court session may remain seated due to his/her illness when speaking or when contesting.

90.3.All people in the courtroom shall rise from their seats when the judge and judicial panel enter the courtroom, and when the court decision is handed down.

90.4.The chair of the court session shall warn the person who violates the rule of the court session for the first violation. The person who violates twice shall be removed from the courtroom; and it shall be recorded in the minutes of the court session and shall impose sanction provided by legislation.

90.5.In the event that a case participant, witness or expert is removed from the courtroom due to a violation, the court session may be adjourned for a certain period by the judge order of the chair, or if the chair of the court session or the court considered that the case can be adjudicated without hearing his/her statement, testimony, or opinion, it shall continue the proceedings. If he/she requests, he/she may have access to the minutes of the court session.

Article 91.Recusing grounds

91.1.A judge shall not participate in the case proceedings on the following grounds:

91.1.1.if previously participated in the adjudication of the case as a litigant, third party, their representative, attorney, representative of citizens, mediator, court clerks, witness, expert, translator, or interpreter;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007 and 24 April 2014/

91.1.2.if a participant of the case or court session is a family member or relative, or there are people who have family or relative relationship in the judicial panel;

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

91.1.3.if he/she has a personal relationship with the case participant, or if there is reasonable doubt on whether the case can be adjudicated fairly;

91.1.4.if there is a situation where a conflict of interest may arise.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

91.2.The judge shall not be recused for grounds other than specified in Articles 84 and 91.1 of this law.

91.3.Grounds stipulated in Article 91.1 of this Law shall apply to a representative of citizens, expert, interpreter, and the court clerk.

91.4.In addition to grounds specified in Article 91.1 1 of this Law, an expert or an interpreter may not participate in the court session in the following cases:

91.4.1.if parties of the case may have influence on him/her due to their official position or for other reasons;

91.4.2.if the case is based on the conclusion of his/her previous examination.

Article 92.Request for disqualification

92.1.If there is a ground for recuse as specified in Article 91 of this Law, the judge, representative of citizens, expert, translator, interpreter, the court clerk shall notify before the court hearing; or if the ground for recuse becomes apparent during the court hearing, he/she shall notify at the time and reflect it on the minutes and recuse.

92.2.A litigant, third party, their representative, or attorneys or the representative of citizens may submit a request to disqualify a judge, representative of citizens, expert, translator, interpreter, or court clerk based on the grounds specified in Article 91 of this Law. Above mentioned persons shall notify before the court session, or at the time the ground is established during the court session.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

92.3.If the disqualification is requested, the Court shall hear the statement of the case participant and the disqualified person if he/she requests.

92.4.Matters related to whether to accept request on disqualification shall be discussed by the judicial panel or the judge in the deliberation room and shall be decided by issuing a judicial panel decision or order.

92.5.The question of disqualification of a judge is decided by the remaining judges in the absence of the judge challenged. If there is a tie, the judge shall be deemed as being disqualified.

92.6.A request for disqualifying several judges or a single judge who is adjudicating the case or judicial panel shall be decided by the Chief Judge of that Court by his/her order.

92.7.A request for disqualifying an expert, translator, interpreter, or court clerk is decided by the judicial panel or the judge who is adjudicating the case.

92.8.If the Chief Judge during the sole adjudication or all the judges of the court was requested for disqualification, the Judge Council shall decide it by majority vote.

Article 93.Consequence of disqualification

93.1.If the request for disqualification of a judicial panel or a judge is satisfied, the case shall be adjudicated by a different panel or a judge.

93.2.If all the judges of the court are disqualified, or if all the judges previously engaged in the case proceedings and are no longer able to participate in the proceedings, the Chief Judge of the court shall transfer the case to another same-level court for adjudication.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 13 May 2016/

93.3.If a case is transferred in accordance with Article 93.2 of this Law, the judge of that court shall receive and adjudicate the case according to the relevant schedule.

Article 94.Issuing a decision in deliberation room

94.1.Courts of all instances shall issue their decision in its deliberation room.

94.2.The opinion on deciding the case of the judicial panel in the deliberation room shall be confidential.

Article 95.Voting

95.1.A panel shall resolve each matter by its majority vote.

95.2.The chair of the court session votes last.

95.3.No judge has the right to refrain from voting on the decision of any question.

Article 96.Court Session Minutes

96.1.Date and time the session was held, the starting and ending time, family names, surname and first name of the judge, the judicial panel, the court clerk, family and full names and addresses of the participants of the case and the court session, appearance and the explanation of their rights and obligations, the statements of the case and the court session participants, their contests, the testimony of witnesses, analysis of evidence, questioning and clarification of the case by the judge and judicial panel, a brief of special opinion, the contents of court decision, period and procedure for lodging an appeal shall be written in the minutes of the court session.

96.2.The minutes shall be made within 3 days following the end of the court session. The minutes shall be signed by the chair of the court session and the court clerk.

96.3.If there is an error in writing of the court session minutes, it shall be corrected at the proposal of chair of the court session or at the request of a participant of the court session within three days, reflect this in the minutes, and confirm it with the signature of the chair of the court session.

Article 97.Procedure to impose a monetary fine

97.1.If a violation punishable by law is presented at a court session, the judge adjudicating the case shall issue an ordinance or the court shall issue a judicial panel decision imposing a fine for up to MNT 100,000 on the violator.

97.2.In cases other than specified in Article 97.1 of this Law, imposition of fines on the violator shall be decided by a judge by summoning him/her to the Court. Non-appearance of the violator shall not impede the issuance of an ordinance.

CHAPTER TEN

Order of the Courts of First Instance

Article 98.Opening of the Court Session

98.1.The chair shall open the court session, announce the case to be heard, and allow the people in the courtroom to sit.

Article 99.Checking the appearance of court sessions and their authorization to participate

99.1.The court clerk shall check appearance of the court session and shall report to the chair of the court session which of the persons summoned for the said case has appeared, whether summons were handed over to the persons who have not appeared, and the reason of their nonappearance.

99.2.The court shall get introduced each case participant and other participants and check the authorization of a representative.

Article 100.Consequences of the non-appearance at the Court Session of the litigants and participants

100.1.The Court may hear case in the court session in the absence of the plaintiff and their attorney, if the plaintiff and its representative have submitted written consent on it to the Court.

100.2.If the plaintiff, its representative, or attorney failed to appear in the court session  without a justifiable reason, the panel or a judge may adjudicate the case in the absence of them at the request of a defendant considering evidence and other circumstances of the case; or may return the claim. On this matter the Court shall issue a judicial panel decision and the judge shall issue an order.

100.3.If the defendant, its representative, or attorney does not appear in the court session without a justifiable reason, and the plaintiff may request to adjudicate the case in their absence. In this case, the court may adjudicate the case based on the statement of the plaintiff and evidence.

100.4.The Court may adjudicate the case based upon evidence collected at that time and other circumstances even no request is submitted to the Court to adjudicate the case in the absence of litigants as provided in Articles 100.2 and 100.3 of this Law. In this case, the Court shall consider the previous statements given by the litigants of the case same as those given at the court session.

100.5.If all the litigants does not appear in the court session, the court may adjudicate the case as provided in Article 100.4 of this Law.

100.6.If an appeal is not lodged within the term specified in Article 120.2 of this Law against a court decision which was made in the absence of a litigant of a case, it shall be implemented in accordance with the general procedure.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

100.7.An appeal against a court decision which was made in the absence of a litigant shall be lodged in accordance with the general procedure.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

100.8.Notwithstanding the duly notice as stated in Article 76.1.2 of this Law, if the appointed representative of citizens failed to appear, the court may hear case at court sessions in his/her absence, based on the consents of the litigants. However, court session shall be adjourned if one of the litigants does not consent it.

Article 101.Explanations of the duties of translator and interpreter

101.1.The chair of the court session shall remind the translator and interpreter of their duties and responsibilities for incorrect translation and interpretation, and shall get signed to the court session minutes.

Article 102.Excluding a witness

102.1.The witness summoned to the court session shall be temporarily excluded from the courtroom.

102.2.The chair of the court session shall take necessary measures to prevent witnesses from communicating with each other.

Article 103.Announcing the judicial panel and explaining the right to disqualify and remove them

103.1.The chair of the court session shall announce the judicial panel, introduce the expert, translator, interpreter, representative of citizens and court clerk, and shall explain the right to disqualify and remove them.

94.2.A disqualification request shall be decided in accordance with Article 92 of this Law.

Article 104.Explaining the Rights and Duties to the case participants

104.1.The chair of the court session shall explain the rights and duties provided by law to the case participants.

Article 105.Deciding a request by the case participants

105.1.A requests made by the case participants regarding the compilation of new evidence and other matters related to the case proceedings shall be decided immediately by the judge and judicial panel after hearing the opinions of the other participants.

105.2.Notwithstanding the additional statements and evidence were possible to be presented or proposed earlier, in case the court deems that there is a justifiable reason for presenting them during the court session, they may be admitted, and the court session may be adjourned once if it is necessary to analyze them.

Article 106.Commencing the hearing of the case

106.1.The case hearing commences with the chair of the court session or the judge introducing the case.

106.2.The chair of the court session shall ask whether the plaintiff supports its claim, whether the defendant admits the claim, and whether there is a will to settle in the litigants. If the litigants have will to settle, they shall be asked if they are willing to have the assistance of a mediator.

/The second sentence of this paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

106.3.The plaintiff may withdraw its claim without a consent from the defendant.

106.4.A defendant may admit the plaintiff's claim in whole or in part or litigants may agree to settle before the court issues its decision.

106.5.If the plaintiff's withdrawal, the defendant's acceptance of a claim, or the  settlement between litigants do not violate rights, freedom and legal interests of other persons, the judge may issue order, court may issue a judicial panel decision dismissing the case and confirming the defendant's acceptance, the plaintiff's withdrawal, or the  settlement between the litigants. Article 74.4 of this Law shall apply to this judicial panel decision and judge order.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

106.6. The Court decision shall state that the Court costs and the stamp duty are to be paid by a plaintiff if it withdraws its claim, or by a defendant if it admits and accepts the claim or is to be divided between litigants if they have settled.

Article 107.Contest between litigants and participants

107.1.Prior to the contest and statements by the litigants and other participants, the chair of the court session shall remind them in advance of their rights and duties and they shall give a truthful statement.

107.2.A plaintiff, third party taking the side of the plaintiff and their representative or attorney shall prove the demand of the claim, the facts of the dispute and evidence and the liability of a defendant; and shall prove the grounds for objection of the defendant's denial of the claim.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

107.3.A defendant, third party taking the side of the defendant and their representative or attorney or shall present the grounds and evidence for denial of the claim.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

107.4.A person who is participating in the case proceedings for the purposes to protect other's right, freedom and interests shall present to the Court their statements and evidence.

107.5.At the court sessions, the parties may refer to their prior statements given in writing.

Article 108.Analyzing evidence and the order of the questioning

108.1.The Court shall determine the order of testimony of the witnesses and experts, exploring and examining of written and physical evidence and analysis of other evidence and shall conduct such activities according to procedures set forth in Articles 110, 111 and 112 of this law.

108.2.The persons participating in a case shall question with respect to statements of witnesses and litigants and conclusions of experts in the following order:

108.2.1.chair of the court session;

108.2.2.a judge, representative of citizens;

108.2.3.a person presenting evidence;

108.2.4.a person opposing to the evidence.

Article 109.Hearing witness testimony

109.1.The chair of the court session shall allow the witness to enter the courtroom, remind him of his/her duties and responsibilities in advance, and have it signed in the minutes of the court session.

109.2.Each witness shall be questioned separately. A witness who has not yet begun to testify may not be in the courtroom during the proceedings. If the chair of the court session does not allow the witness to leave, the witness shall remain in the courtroom until the end of the hearing.

109.3.When taking testimony from a minor witness, a parent, custodian, guardian, or educator shall be present. When the court hears the testimony of him/her, the participant who may influence him/her may be temporarily removed from the courtroom. When the person who has left the courtroom returns to the courtroom, the testimony of the minor witness shall be presented to him/her, and he/she shall be given the opportunity to ask questions. After hearing the testimony of a minor witness, he/she shall be removed from the courtroom.

109.4.The judge may take the testimony from the witness in advance or ask him/her repeatedly.

Article 110.Analyzing written, digital, and physical evidence

/The title of this article was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

110.1.The court shall study the physical evidence and documents compiled in the case, and if necessary, at the request of the case participants, witness, and expert, the written and digital evidence shall be read and heard at the court hearing, and the physical evidence shall be introduced.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

110.2.Documents related to state and official secrets, organizational secrets, and personal sensitive information shall not be presented during the proceedings. To protect correspondence information, personal letters and writings may be read out in open court with the consent of the person concerned. If permission is not obtained, the reading and analysis of personal letters and writings shall be conducted in closed court.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

110.3.A person who finds out that a written or digital document in the case is false shall submit a request to the court to exclude the document from evidence. The person who claims that the written or digital document is false has the responsibility to prove it. To verify the authenticity of written and digital documents, the court may require an examination and other evidence.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

110.4.If it is found that a written or digital document is falsified, the court shall exclude it from the evidence, and the case participants may, if necessary, file a complaint with the competent authority regarding the falsified document.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

Article 111.Hearing of expert conclusion

111.1.The expert's conclusion shall be read and heard at the court session.

111.2.If the expert is participating in the court session, he/she shall explain his/her conclusion. Thereafter, the expert may be questioned.

111.3.If the court deems that the expert's conclusion is incomplete, or there is a new situation related to the matter being examined, or groundless, or deems it is questionable whether it is well-grounded, it may conduct additional or re-examination as specified in Articles 27 and 28 of the Law on Court Forensics.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 23 December 2022/

Article 112.Further clarification from persons participating in a case

112.1.After analyzing the evidence, the chair of the court session shall ask the litigants, third party, their representatives, and attorneys if there is anything to clarify further.

Article 113.Opinion of a representative of citizens

113.1.The representative of citizens shall issue a written opinion on the dispute facts and the liability of the litigants. If it is not possible to issue a written opinion due to health or other justifiable reasons, this reason shall be recorded in the minutes of the court session and the opinion may be presented in oral.

104.2.The opinion of the representative of citizens shall be read and heard at the court session.

Article 114.Judicial panel entering to the deliberation room

114.1.The chair of the court session shall announce a recess of the court session and panel shall enter to its deliberation room to issue its decision.

114.2.It shall be prohibited for litigants to go out during the recess of the court session.

114.3.If case is adjudicated by panel of three judges the decision of a court is adopted by majority vote.

114.4.If case is resolved by team of judges consisted of 3 judges who propose 3 different proposals, the decision shall be issued based on the proposal made by the Chief Judge. A proposal of 2 judges voted against shall be attached to the case in writing.

/This paragraph was annulled according to the law as of 7 May 2004/

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Decision and its issuance

Article 115.Decision

115.1.A decision means a document of a Court of the first instance issued upon adjudicating a case.

115.2.The Court of first instance shall issue one of the following decisions with respect to the case:

115.2.1.to satisfy the claim's demand;

115.2.2.to satisfy some part of the claim's demand and dismiss the rest of it;

115.2.3.dismiss the whole claim.

Article 116.Issuing a decision in the name of Mongolia

116.1.The Court shall issue the decision in the name of Mongolia.

116.2.The decision of a Court shall be lawful and well grounded.

116.3.The decision shall be based upon the evidence discussed at the court session.

Article 117.Dismissing the case

117.1.The case shall be dismissed and if the ground specified in Articles 65.1.9 of this Law is established after instituting the civil case, or grounds specified in Articles 65.1.3-65.1.8 and 65.1.10 of this Law are established during hearing of the case at the court session. In this respect the Court shall issue a judicial panel decision and the judge shall issue an order.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 118.The contents of the decision

118.1.A decision shall consist of introduction, background, foundation, and determination parts.

118.2.The introduction part of the decision shall specify when, where, and which Court does issue the decision, the name of members of the judicial panel, or a judge, court clerk, litigants and persons participating in a case.

118.3.The background part of the decision shall contain the contents of the demand of the claim, statements of the plaintiff, denial and statements of the defendant and statements of litigants, third parties and their representatives.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

118.4.The foundation part of the decision shall indicate legal and material grounds of the evidence compiled in the case or discussed at the court sessions which served as grounds for adjudicating the case and their evaluation by the Court.

118.5.The ordering part of the decision shall specify in detail the name of the law applied and article, paragraphs by which the Court was guided, and shall specify if the claim and counterclaim lodged to the Court were satisfied or if some part of the claim was satisfied while dismissing some part of it, or if the claim is dismissed wholly and shall indicate resolution of issues such as payment of the stamp duty and Court expenses. It shall also reflect issues such as what to do with the evidence or what rights and duties shall be implemented by the plaintiff and the defendant respectively if several plaintiffs or defendants had taken part in the case. It shall specify the methods and procedures for enforcement of the decision and issue other necessary permits for enforcement of the decision including entering into a person's residence and other places, inspect and search the obligor's body, residence, other places and property, freeze property, foreclose, confiscate.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 9 June 2017 and 12 April 2018/

118.6.The ordering part specified in Article 118.5 of this Law shall be in the form of ordering.

Article.119.Handing down a decision and handing it over

119.1.The chair of the court session shall introduce the contents of the ordering part of the decision, explain the other necessary matters and close the court session.

119.2.The decision shall come into force after being handed down and heard.

119.3.The contents of the decision shall be written in full and signed by the judge and panel as specified in Article 118 of this law within 14 days after the decision becomes effective.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

119.4.A litigant participated in the court hearing shall come to the court and receive the decision in person within 14 days after the expiration of the term specified in Article 119.3 of this Law.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

119.5.If the case was adjudicated in the absence of a litigant, the court decision shall be handed over to the litigant within the term specified in Article 119.4 of this Law. If it is impossible to hand over the decision or the litigant does not come to receive the court decision as specified in Article 119.4 of this Law, the court shall deliver it by a certified mail to the residential address /location/ or by the court officer within seven days after the expiration of the specified term.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

119.6.The court decision delivered in accordance with Article 119.5 of this Law shall be considered as received and procedure specified in Article 77.6 this Law may apply for delivering the court decision.

119.7.Failure to receive the decision in person, as stipulated in Article 119. 4 of this Law shall not prevent from calculating deadlines for filing a complaint according to the procedure as specified in law.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

119.8.If the deadline specified in Article 119.4 was missed due to improper activity of the court, Article 119.7 shall not apply. In this case, the decision shall be delivered as per Article 119.5 and the term shall be calculated as per Article 119.6.

/Article 119 was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 120.Court decision becomes legally effective and appealing against the court decision

120.1.The decision of the court of a first instance becomes legally effective in the following cases:

120.1.1.no appeal was lodged within the period specified in Article 120.2 of this Law;

120.1.2.lodged a complaint in the appellate procedure, and after adjudicating the complaint in the appellate procedure, no appeal was lodged in the cassation procedure against the judgment made in accordance with Articles 167.1.1-167.1.3 of this Law; or an appeal was lodged, but it was refused to discuss the complaint at the hearing of the cassation instance according to the judicial panel decision;

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

120.1.3.appealed against the judgment of the appellate court in the cassation procedure, and after reviewing the appeal, the cassation instance court issued a judicial panel decision as specified in Articles 176.2.1-176.2.3 of this Law.

120.2.A litigant, a third party, and their representative or attorney may appeal to the courts of province or capital city within 14 days after the receipt of the first instance court decision. 

120.3.If a litigant, a third party, and their representative or attorney exceeds the term specified in Article 120.2 of this Law with a justifiable reason, a request for restitution shall be made to the first instance court and a judge shall decide whether to satisfy the request by issuing an order.

120.4.A litigant, other participant of a case, including a successor to their rights does not have the right to re-lodge a claim on a dispute that is already adjudicated by court, or facts, legal relations that are already established by court and another civil case proceedings.

/Article 120 was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 121.Explaining a decision

121.1.If necessary, the judge or judicial panel that has decided the case may explain the legal grounds of the decision in oral or in writing before complying with the decision, at the request of a case participant.

Article 122.Consequence of appealing in appellate or cassation procedures

122.1.If a complaint is lodged in appellate or cassation procedures, the Court decision shall not be enforced until the complaint is adjudicated.

122.2.If a complaint is lodged in the appellate procedure, the measures taken earlier to secure implementation of the decision as provided in Article 69 of this Law shall remain in effect until the case is adjudicated.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

122.3.If a complaint is lodged on the cassation procedure, the measures taken earlier to secure implementation of the decision as provided in Article 69 of this Law shall remain in effect until the issuance of the judicial panel decision on refusal to discuss the case or until the judicial panel decision of the cassation instance court session becomes effective.

/This paragraph was amended according to the law as of 15 January 2021/

Article 123.Judicial panel decision of a Court, judge order and their issuance

123.1.A judge shall issue an order and a court shall issue a judicial panel decision on the matters related to the case proceedings and dismissal of the case, except for the decision provided for in Articles 115 and 116 of this Law.

123.2.The Court resolution shall be issued when a panel is adjudicating a case and the order shall be issued when a single judge is adjudicating a case or at times other than court sessions.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

123.3.Judicial panel decisions and judge orders shall be issued in writing to decide requests for adjournment of court sessions, suspension, resumption, disqualification, and other matters pending during court sessions. In other matters, the court's decision and judge's order can be issued in oral and recorded in the minutes of the court session.

/This sub-paragraph was amended according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

Article 124.Annulling or changing resolution of a judicial panel decision and a judge order

124.1.If a judge order or judicial panel decision issued in accordance with Article 123.1 of this Law is clearly groundless, the judge or judicial panel may annul or change it by issuing a judicial panel decision or a judge order.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 3 August 2007/

CHAPTER TWELVE

Proceedings in Cases Related to Family

Article 125.Adjudicating cases related to family

125.1.Unless otherwise provided by this Chapter, the family law disputes shall be adjudicated through regular procedures provided by this Law.

125.2.Upon termination of the mediation process as specified in the Article 28 of the Law on Mediation, a claim lodged with the court, the case shall be adjudicated through the regular procedures as provided by this Law.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

125.3.Mediation process may be reconducted during the regular court proceedings on the grounds provided in Article 125.2 of this Law.

/This sub-paragraph was added according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 126.Claim on divorce

126.1.A claim on divorce shall be lodged with the Court of the area where the defendant resides.

126.2.If the plaintiff has a juvenile or disability or other justifiable reasons for difficulty in getting to the defendant's place, the claim can be lodged in the court of his/her place of residence.

126.3.The litigants may agree on whose residing area Court is to adjudicate the case.

126.4.The claim on divorce shall state family names, surnames and first names of the married couple, when and where the marriage was registered, reasons for divorce, if the marriage has underage child then his/her name, date of birth, requests for custody, support and property, whether there is an mutual agreement on this and other relevant evidence shall be enclosed.

Article 127.Alimony payment and division of the properties of the married couple

127.1.At the time of divorce, if a spouse is seriously ill, unable to work, or in need of economic assistance, and the court may resolve the disputes regarding the distribution of jointly owned common property, the custody of the minor children, together with the divorce claim.

Article 128.Judge ordering on fulfillment of agreement between the married couple on property or on support

128.1.If the married couple mutually agreed and entered into respective agreements on property or on support but did not fulfill them voluntarily, a judge may issue an order with respect fulfilling these agreements at the request of a party.

Article 129.Preliminary actions to adjudicate cases related to divorce

129.1.In adjudicating a case related to divorce a judge may issue an order to conduct following preliminary actions if he/she deems necessary:

129.1.1.to support underage children or parents with disability;

129.1.2.to place underage children with any one of the parents;

129.1.3.to instruct the married couple to live separately;

129.1.4.to have spousal support;

129.1.5.to prohibit transfer, sale, gift and disposal of an apartment and other jointly owned property and immovable property;

129.1.6.to pay certain portions of Court expenses in advance;

129.1.7.to specify deadline for litigants to reconcile through mediation procedure.

/This sub-paragraph was modified according to the law as of 24 April 2014/

Article 130.Changing, annulling, terminating preliminary actions for the adjudication of a divorce case

130.1.The Court may change or annul the preliminary actions for the adjudication of a divorce case set forth in Article 129 of this Law, at the request of a litigant.