As per the provisions of Article 62 of the Civil Procedure Law, parties to a divorce case shall appear in court in person to take part in the proceedings, unless they are incompetent. If any party in a divorce case is unable to appear in court due to particular circumstances, such as physical illness, old age and infirmity, inconvenient transportation, natural disasters etc., he or she must submit a written statement to the People's Court and entrust an attorney to participate in the proceedings. As long as a written statement is submitted to the People's Court and an attorney has been appointed to participate in the litigation process, the People's Court shall not dismiss the case even if the plaintiff or the appellant himself or herself did not appear in court to participate in the proceedings. However, if the plaintiff or the appellant himself or herself fails to appear in court to take part in the proceedings, which leads to the uncertainty of the facts of discovery, the absent party shall bear the adverse legal consequences arising therefrom.
In view of the fact that divorce proceedings have a significant impact on the personal and property interests of the parties concerned, Article 62 of the Civil Procedure Law and Article 37 of the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Further Deepening the Reform of Family Trial Methods and Working Mechanisms (Trial) advocate that parties involved in divorce cases should appear in court in person to participate in the proceedings except under exceptional circumstances. In judicial practice, some courts misinterpret the law by dismissing the divorce case even if he or she entrusts an attorney and submits a written statement should the plaintiff or the appellant fail to appear in court. The judicial practice has made it very clear on this: 1. Clarified the principle that the plaintiff or appellant in divorce cases should attend the lawsuit in person; 2. Listed the instances where the plaintiff or the appellant is “unable to appear in court, under special circumstances"; 3. Clarified the legal consequences of the plaintiff or the appellant's failure to appear in court in person. It’s advised that the parties involved in divorce cases appear in court in person to take part in the proceedings so that the procedural and substantive interests of the parties involved in divorce cases can be fully protected.
