Legal information

Article introduction: After the demolished households signed a resettlement compensation agreement, can they regret and cancel the agreement? These 5 legal grounds prove that the agreement is invalid. This time the court finally filed the case!

Part One, Typical Cases Under Litigation

1. Summary of the case

In August 2015, the municipal government issued a notice saying: In order to deeply learn from the lessons of Tianjin's particularly serious fire and explosion accidents, it carried out a large-scale inspection of production safety and hidden dangers. It was found that two houses of Yang's family had serious safety hazards such as irregular circuits, serious private connections, and poor fire resistance of the houses. In order to eliminate the hidden dangers, the town government was ordered to demolish the houses within 15 days. Subsequently, the Office of the Work Safety Committee under the municipal government issued a notice requiring the owners and tenants of the houses to move out within the specified period. Otherwise, compulsory measures will be taken if the time limit is exceeded. On the same day, town government staff measured and registered Yang’s house and attachments. On behalf of the co-owners, Yang signed the resettlement fee form for confirmation. On the same day, he also signed the resettlement compensation agreement. The agreement stipulated that 1233 A total of 2,352,410 yuan was paid for the .6 square meter house and attachments, including resettlement and transition fees. More than 1.82 million yuan was paid to Yang's account the next day. Yang's family moved, and then the house was blasted and demolished. The remaining balance was paid to Yang's account the next month. According to previous demolition cases, it should have been successfully resolved here, because the agreement was signed, the money was received, the people were moved, and the house was demolished. However, after the demolished people later learned about the legal procedures for expropriation and demolition and related legal knowledge, they found the compensation agreement unacceptable, so they entrusted a lawyer to file a lawsuit requesting that the house demolition compensation and resettlement agreement signed by the plaintiff and the defendant be confirmed to be invalid.

2. Lawyer’s point of view

The Yingting demolition team believes:

1. An agreement that has been completed cannot be litigated and has no legal basis. Fulfilling obligations in accordance with the agreement does not mean fulfilling legal obligations;

2. The respondent failed to make a decision on expropriation and used safety hazards as a cover to threaten forced demolition and force the parties to sign a housing compensation agreement. This constituted a failure to perform the substantive and procedural obligations stipulated by law and a failure to perform the administrative agreement in accordance with the law;

3. The applicant’s house was expropriated in 1992. The expropriation was implemented more than 20 years later. The applicant’s house is already in a prosperous location in the city center. According to Article 12 of the “Regulations of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Administrative Cases Involving Rural Collective Land”, the applicant’s house should be compensated according to the standards for state-owned land.

Item (11) of Article 12, Paragraph 1, of the Administrative Litigation Law stipulates that administrative agencies' failure to perform in accordance with the law, failure to perform in accordance with the agreement, or illegal changes, termination of government franchise agreements, land and house expropriation compensation agreements, and requests to terminate the agreement or confirm that the agreement is invalid are within the scope of administrative litigation. That is, whether the agreement has been fully performed has no direct relationship with whether there is a right to sue.

4. The "House Demolition and Resettlement Compensation Agreement" signed by Yang Moumou and the town government (located in the city center) is invalid and should be accepted in accordance with the above-mentioned legal provisions.

Part 2: According to my country’s Administrative Litigation Law, to which situations can civil law provisions be applied?

1. Article 12 If a citizen, legal person or other organization files a lawsuit against an administrative agency for failing to perform the agreement in accordance with the law or as agreed upon, the provisions of the civil law regulations on the statute of limitations shall be referred to. If a citizen, legal person or other organization files a lawsuit against the administrative agency for unilaterally changing or rescinding the agreement, the provisions of the Administrative Litigation Law and its judicial interpretations on the time limit for prosecution shall apply.

Interpretation: "Reference" means in accordance with. Since then, administrative litigation has begun a situation in which "limitation of action" and "time limit for prosecution" coexist.

2. Article 13 For cases involving litigation over administrative agreements, the provisions of the Administrative Litigation Law and its judicial interpretations shall be applied to determine the competent court.

3. Article 14 When the People's Court examines whether an administrative agency performs in accordance with the law, performs an agreement as agreed, or whether it is legal to unilaterally change or terminate an agreement, while applying administrative legal norms, it may also apply civil legal norms that do not violate the mandatory provisions of the Administrative Law and the Administrative Litigation Law.

Interpretation: The so-called "civil legal norms" mainly refer to contract law and its judicial interpretations.

4. Article 15 If the plaintiff claims that the defendant failed to perform in accordance with the law, failed to perform the agreement as agreed, or that it is illegal to unilaterally change or terminate the agreement, and the reasons are established, the people's court may, based on the plaintiff's claims, make a ruling confirming the validity of the agreement, ruling the defendant to continue to perform the agreement, and clarify the specific content of continued performance; if the defendant is unable to continue to perform or continued performance has no practical significance, it will order the defendant to take corresponding remedial measures; if it causes losses to the plaintiff, it will order the defendant to compensate.

If the plaintiff requests to terminate the agreement or confirm the invalidity of the agreement, and the reasons are valid, the judgment shall be made to terminate the agreement or confirm the invalidity of the agreement, and the matter shall be dealt with in accordance with the Contract Law and other relevant legal provisions.

If the defendant unilaterally changes or terminates the agreement due to public interest needs or other legal reasons, causing losses to the plaintiff, the defendant shall be ordered to compensate.

Interpretation: In short, how civil contract disputes are adjudicated is basically how administrative contract disputes are adjudicated. Administrative compensation is the same as civil compensation, not administrative compensation.

5. Article 16 If a lawsuit is filed against an administrative agency that fails to perform in accordance with the law or fails to perform an agreement as agreed, the litigation fees shall apply mutatis mutandis to the payment standards for civil cases; if a lawsuit is filed against an administrative agency for unilaterally changing or rescinding an agreement, the litigation fees shall apply to the payment standards for administrative cases.

Interpretation: [Litigation expenses] in administrative contract cases.

Part 3. According to the laws of our country, which agreements (contracts) are invalid? What are the legal consequences?

(1) Let’s see, when does the contract become effective?

1. A contract established in accordance with the law shall take effect from the time of establishment. If laws and administrative regulations stipulate that approval, registration and other procedures must be completed to take effect, such provisions shall apply.

2. The parties may agree on conditions for the validity of the contract. A contract with conditions for effectiveness shall take effect when the conditions are fulfilled. A contract with rescission conditions shall become invalid upon fulfillment of the conditions. If the parties improperly prevent the fulfillment of the conditions for their own interests, the conditions will be deemed to have been fulfilled; if the parties improperly facilitated the fulfillment of the conditions, the conditions will be deemed not to have been fulfilled.

3. The parties may agree on a time limit for the validity of the contract. A contract with an effective time limit shall take effect when the time limit expires. A contract with a termination period shall become invalid upon expiration of the period.

4. A contract entered into by a person with limited capacity for civil conduct shall be valid after being ratified by the legal representative. However, a contract made solely for profit or a contract entered into consistent with his or her age, intelligence, or mental health does not need to be ratified by the legal agent. The counterparty may urge the legal representative to ratify it within one month. If the legal representative fails to make any representation, it shall be deemed as a refusal to ratify. Before the contract is ratified, the bona fide counterparty has the right to revoke it. Cancellation shall be made by notification.

5. If the actor has no agency authority, exceeds the agency authority, or a contract entered into in the name of the principal after the agency authority is terminated, without ratification by the principal, it will not be effective for the principal, and the actor shall bear the liability. The counterparty may urge the principal to ratify it within one month. If the principal fails to make any representation, it shall be deemed as a refusal to ratify. Before the contract is ratified, the bona fide counterparty has the right to revoke it. Cancellation shall be made by notification.

6. If the actor has no agency power, exceeds the agency power, or enters into a contract in the name of the principal after the agency power is terminated, and the counterparty has reason to believe that the actor has the agency power, the agency act is valid.

7. If the legal representative or responsible person of a legal person or other organization enters into a contract beyond his authority, the representative act shall be valid unless the counterparty knows or should know that he or she has exceeded his authority.

8. If a person without the right to dispose disposes of another person's property, and the right holder ratifies it or the person without the right to dispose obtains the right to dispose of the property after entering into a contract, the contract shall be valid.

(2) Agreements (contracts) signed in these ways are invalid

1. One party concludes a contract by means of fraud or coercion, harming national interests;

2. Malicious collusion to harm the interests of the country, the collective or a third party;

3. Use legal forms to conceal illegal purposes;

4. Damage social and public interests;

5. Violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations.

(3) For this type of agreement, one party has the right to request the people's court or arbitration institution to change or cancel it.

1. Contracted due to major misunderstanding;

2. It is obviously unfair when entering into the contract.

3. If one party uses fraud, coercion or takes advantage of others' danger to cause the other party to enter into a contract against its true intention, the injured party has the right to request the people's court or arbitration institution to change or cancel the contract. If a party requests a change, the people's court or arbitration institution shall not revoke it.

(4) The right to cancel shall be extinguished in any of the following circumstances.

1. The party with the right of revocation fails to exercise the right of revocation within one year from the date when he knew or should have known the reason for revocation;

2. The party with the right to rescind clearly expresses or waives the right to rescind by his own behavior after knowing the cause of revocation.

(5) Legal consequences of invalid contract

1. An invalid contract or a canceled contract has no legal binding force from the beginning. If part of a contract is invalid, it does not affect the validity of other parts, which remain valid.

2. If the contract is invalid, revoked or terminated, it will not affect the validity of the independently existing clauses on dispute resolution methods in the contract.

3. After the contract is invalid or revoked, the property obtained as a result of the contract shall be returned; if it cannot be returned or there is no need to return it, it shall be compensated at a discount. The party at fault shall compensate the other party for the resulting losses. If both parties are at fault, they shall each bear corresponding responsibilities.

4. If the parties maliciously collude and harm the interests of the state, the collective or a third party, the property obtained thereby shall be taken back to the state or returned to the collective or the third party.

Yingting Demolition Team reminds you:

1. You need to be careful when signing any agreement. You must keep a copy of the original. If you cannot keep it, you must take photos. Some signatures cannot be redeemed, and even if you can redeem some, you will have to pay more.

2. Signing an agreement does not mean it is valid. If you use deceptive means to get the demolished person to sign, you can still sue even if you receive compensation.

3. Although the demolition compensation agreement is an administrative contract, the basic provisions of the contract law are also applicable. The demolition compensation agreement is not administratively mandatory and requires the true expression of intention of both parties. Compensation contracts signed due to fraud or coercion are invalid.

4. Don’t be afraid because the demolition parties are deceived or intimidated. The demolition compensation standards are not mandatory regulations by the government. If you are dissatisfied with certain administrative actions, dissatisfied with the expropriation decision or compensation standards, the expropriated and demolished persons may file an administrative review within 60 days of receiving the expropriation decision, expropriation compensation decision and other specific administrative actions, and file an administrative lawsuit within 6 months. If your house is forcibly demolished, you must file a lawsuit to defend your rights within 6 months of knowing the date of demolition. If you have not negotiated compensation terms with the government, you can consult a lawyer specializing in land acquisition and demolition, or ask a lawyer to intervene and negotiate with the government using professional legal knowledge to strive for fair and satisfactory compensation. In practice, if you want to prove that you signed under duress or fraud, you need sufficient and strong evidence to prove it. Pay attention to collecting evidence legally and safeguarding your own legitimate rights and interests.