In accordance with the Marriage Law, an annullable marriage refers to the marriage relationship concluded where either spouse was under coercion. According to Article 10 of the Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China (I), coercion means any party's coercing another party to marry the first party against the will of the other party by threatening to cause damage to the life, health, reputation, property, etc., to the other party or any of its close relatives.
In case of an annullable marriage, the coerced party may file a petition to the marriage registration authority or the people's court for the annulment of the marriage. Where the coerced party files such a claim to the marriage registration authority, it shall produce its ID card, marriage certificate and sufficient evidence to prove that the marriage was concluded under coercion. The marriage registration authority shall annul the marriage and declare the marriage certificate null and void if it considers that the marriage was concluded under coercion and no issue of child-raising, property or debt issues are involved. Where the coerced party files such a claim to the people's court in accordance with the law, it shall provide evidence to prove that the marriage was concluded under coercion following the basic rule that "Whoever claims shall provide evidence". After accepting the case, the people's court shall hear the case and deliver a verdict following the summary procedure or the ordinary procedure. If a marriage is annulled according to law, the people's court shall require the parties to the marriage to surrender their marriage certificates and send a copy of the effective verdict to the local marriage registration authority.
In accordance with the Marriage Law, only coerced party may file a petition for annulment of the marriage on the grounds of coercion. The claim of the coerced party for the annulment of the marriage shall be filed within one year from the date of marriage registration, or within one year from the date of restoration of personal freedom if the personal freedom of the claiming party was curbed illegitimately. The term "one year" above is a fixed period to which no provision of suspension, interruption or extension of the statute of limitations shall be applicable.
The legal consequences of annulling an annullable marriage are the same as those of invalidating an invalid marriage. For details, please refer to the interpretation of the legal consequences of an invalid marriage in this book.
